Matched
by citrasama
Summary: AU. In the Association, the agents choose for you. Where you live. Who you love. Where you work. When you die. Your match will be the one you will love. When May's best friend, Brendan, shows up as her match, she couldn't be happier. She was sure Brendan was the one... until she saw a green haired man's picture flash for a second before the matching screen blanked. CS ORS ON HIATUS
1. Matched Banquet

Hey happy wontons, I see you've come to read my new story _Matched_. I would say the ones who have been reading my other stories know that I'm very excited to start writing this, and most of you guys are excited to read this. I reread the original story _Matched _a couple times before writing this.

_Matched _is a book by Ally Condie and I made a well, Pokemon version of it. If you read _Matched_, yes you will find my story alike to it. So I really don't want to see 'Hey you copied this story!' or 'I've read this in a real book!' or 'Ally Condie wrote this people, not Citra!' Okay, I now disclaim _Matched_. I never owned it anyways. But I do own this fanfiction. Muahahaha. LOL.

I'm going to be honest, I wrote the first chapter in the beginning of November because I was just too excited! Hopefully you people are excited as well and you're reading this. (:

Let's start this baby.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Ally Condie's book.**

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Max was sitting in front of me, staring out the large window. We were driving from the east side of the Province to the west side, which was of course all the way on the other side. He was dressed in a dark navy suit and he looked extremely bored. If I were him, I'd be bored too, he's twelve after all. Max noticed me staring at him. "What?" he asked, his cheek resting on his hand.

"Nothing," I responded to my brother. "I'm sorry you didn't want to come, but it's against the rules to leave someone less than sixteen at home alone." The Agents made that rule long ago and they engraved that rule into everyone's head. I bet even five year old children knew that rule.

Agents were people who organize the Association. They choose things for us and they are always right. Well, that's what I and most others think. I trust their choices; they pick the best life length, perfect job and the ideal mate for you. What's there to not trust or hate?

I felt the train make a sharp turn and my head hit the side of the high speed train. "Ow," I muttered, placing my hand on where it was hit. I sighed gratefully, a bump wasn't forming and the pain was fading away quickly.

"Are you okay?" I look up and my best friend, Brendan Birch, was walking by. I nodded and he handed me a water bottle. "Here May, take it."

I shake my head. "I have one. You keep your own water." He shrugged and proceeded to where he was going. I watch him and he opened the door to the restroom. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have watched him.

My family and his were going to the yearly event where all seventeen year olds are required to attend: the Match Banquet. Or I should say, _my _Match Banquet. I was dying for this moment; I've been counting the days since I turned sixteen. Brendan and I were nearly the same age; he was only a week older than me. I was finally going to meet an unknown man who will be in my life for the next sixty three years. I know he's going to be perfect, the Agents always pick the best man for a girl.

Do the math. We only live for eighty years; it was one of the Association's rules, too. I assume they made that rule so old people won't have to suffer as they grow older. I don't mind that rule.

Brendan walks back out and he shakes his hand to rid the water, and then dries it on his pants. I scrunch my nose. "Don't do that. You'll get your pretty pants wet."

He raises an eyebrow. "Pretty?" he repeated. "I do not want you calling my pants pretty. Call them handsome, nice or cool. That's better." I roll my eyes and hit his side playfully. He took a seat in the empty chair next to mine.

"Max," my mother called. "Come here, dad wants to play a game with you." Max's face was filled with delight and he ran to her happily. Of course he'd react that way, as I said, he looked extremely bored. I laugh.

"Are you nervous?" Brendan asked. I knew what he was talking about. Am I nervous of meeting my match? Now who would feel worry about that? I bet the people who are most worried about this are the parents of the teens attending. Yesterday, or the past days, my mother has been praying for a good man who will treat me right.

"No," I answer. "Are you?"

He shook his head. "I know you're nervous." I frown, my face saying 'how do you know?' "You keep playing with that pocket watch. Where did you get it? I didn't know you had an artifact." People in the Association may only own one artifact each. I respect all their rules, but that rule was quite silly. Artifacts are treasures from the past; usually your relatives will pass them down to you. This one was from my grandfather. He's seventy nine.

"Grandfather gave it to me for good luck before we left," I said. Brendan nodded and looked out the window. We've never driven this far before, so it was really cool to look outside. People in the Middle East had different simple-clothes than ours. You wear simple-clothes while you are playing, hanging out or just not doing anything special. Anyways, theirs' were yellow and brown. Ours are green and grey. I kind of wish ours were red, I love that color. But green is okay, too. "How much longer?" I asked Brendan.

"An hour," he said. "Are you that excited to meet some guy?"

"No," I said. "I know he'll be perfect."

"Even if they pick some fat, ugly guy who sweats every five minutes?" Brendan asked, snickering. We loved joking around with each other; it's just what we do. Our mothers were best friends back in Fourth level school, so we've been together since we were babies.

So first level school is what people call 'baby school.' Wait, let me back up. There are five levels in school, and in each level there are three experiences. Each experience is six months, so half a year. So as I said, first level school is 'baby school.' It really isn't for babies; it's for ages five through eight. I guess they're called babies since their so small. Second level is for ages nine through twelve, which is where my brother Max is in. Third level is twelve to sixteen, fourth level is seventeen to twenty, and fifth level is twenty one to twenty four.

Some people go to level five to seven, but it really depends on what job the Agents assign you to. Like my dad had to go up to level seven school to be a surgeon. I don't know what I'm going to be, they tell you on your last year of fourth level. So I have around two years. Though I don't like school, so I hope I don't have to go up to level seven in school. That would seriously be a pain.

Brendan grabbed the pocket watch from me and I glared at him. "Sorry, the clicking noises were annoying me," he said, observing the tiny details of the watch. "Dang, this is cool. It must've cost a lot. Hey look, it says your initials, 'MM.' Did he do that just for you?"

"What?" I say, taking the watch back. "His name was Michael Maple. We have the same initials."

"But yours are actually a triple M," Brendan says. "Maybelle Melanie Maple. Who would think about doing that to their daughter?"

"Brendan, you're so mean," I said, turning away from him. "At least mine isn't 'BNB.' My mom calls bread and butter 'BNB' so you should feel sadder." His full name was Brendan Nathan Birch, so as you can see it's 'BNB.' I don't see why he should be making fun of other's initials when his are just as worse. "It can also stand for 'Bed and Breakfast.'"

We talk for the next fifty minutes and our train comes to a stop. We were the fifth cart, so we had to let the front four groups go first. Then our door opened and Brendan and my family walked out, and we saw a couple other families looking at maps or signs. The girls had pink or purple dresses, and it was the most popular color for women formal-clothes.

My dress was sapphire blue; it was the color of my eyes. I don't really care being different.

My phone buzzed, and I took it out of my dress pocket. It was Leaf, and she sent me a text saying, _Hey I see you! Don't move your bootie. I'm the eleventh cart of the train so don't ditch me, loser. _Leaf Green Xenia is my best friend, and she's also seventeen. She wasn't nervous about the Matched Banquet; she says it'd be like every other night, just meeting some guy you're going to be stuck with forever. I laughed at that when she told me. "Mom," I said when my mom was close enough. "Leaf said to wait, she's the eleventh cart and she wants to stick with us."

"No problem, honey," Mom said, moving her bangs away from her eyes. "Oh my, I need to cut my bangs when we get home. Norman, can you do that for me?" Mom started talking to Dad and I laugh. Mom was clueless like me. Brendan said I'm clueless, too, but no way. I'm not. Brendan's just a meanie.

Minutes later, Leaf was running out of her cart and she attacked me with a hug. "Oh geez I thought I was going to die in there! We were in there for what, an hour in a half? Why couldn't your family be with mine?"

"I know, I wish that we didn't have to be with our family in a train," I said. That was also a rule, and there can only be two families per cart, no matter how many family members there were. Leaf only had her mother, her father died because of an illness. "I love your dress. I knew green would look great on you."

Leaf pulled away from me and did a twirl. "I know, aren't I fabulous?" my mom saw Leaf and her mom, so we made our way to the Banquet. I felt my heart slowly beat quicker, and then I saw Leaf make a disgusted face. I asked her what was wrong. "I just saw the player from our class. I forgot his name… but you know who I'm talking about, right? Yesterday he was hugging a bunch of girls going like, 'Yeah, I'm so sorry but this will probably be my last time hanging out with all you beauties since I'm getting my soul mate tomorrow' and crap. Then girls were going like 'oh I hope it's me!' He's such a player. I pity the girl who ends up with him."

"Ohhh him," I say, remembering his face. He had spiky auburn hair, and I wondered if that was natural. It looked kind of natural because it wasn't never shiny, wet or stiff looking. "I wish Eevee was here with me, she loves looking at pretty dresses."

"But rules are rules," Leaf said. "You can't bring Pokemon to the Match Banquet. But if I brought Chikorita with me, she'd be pulling everyone's dresses, wanting a sample." We both laugh.

I saw Professor Birch, Brendan's dad, snatch Brendan's white hat off. "Son, don't wear this in. You'd be such an embarrassment and it doesn't match your suit." Brendan and him start arguing and he tried taking his hat back, but Professor Birch stuffed it in his bag. "I'll give it to you when the Banquet is over." He groaned.

"Was Brendan nervous for this?" Leaf asked after the scene was over. I shook my head. "Wow, he's calm. Although I wonder if he was nervous as hell last night."

"I don't think he'd do that," I say, laughing again. Even though I was so nervous before, Leaf and Brendan always knew the ways to make me calm down. Leaf and I met in the first level of school, and coincidentally we've been in the same class since. It's not like I mind.

"Darling, your bun is in a mess." Leaf's mom came up from behind her and took out the falling bun her brown, chocolate hair was in. Her brown hair was a shade darker than mine. She did a beautiful bun just like that while we were walking. I stared in amazement. "Now you look beautiful. Your match will be stunned, overwhelmed and so happy when they see you're his match." She walked ahead of us to talk to my mom.

"Your mom is funny," I say.

Leaf shrugged. "Was she trying to be funny? Besides, you can't judge people by their appearance."

"I know," I agreed. "Once your match finds out what you're really like, he'll think 'Man and she was so elegant at the Banquet, too.'" Leaf punched me and I stuck my tongue out at her.

We reached the room where the Match Banquet was being held. My family took a seat at the table that held our last name, Maple. Brendan's family was on the other side of the room, and Leaf's was a table away from mine. "Welcome," an Agent said from the large podium that was in front of the room. I felt my hands sweat and I wipe them carelessly on my seat. "Everyone take a seat. Dinner will be served shortly."

After exactly a minute she said that, waiters and waitresses came in and I inhaled the delicious scent. Mom said they have scrumptious meals, and the best part is that they're free. Even though we didn't have money problems, Mom still liked to save money. She's weird.

"Even though the food is good, I bet most of the Matchees won't finish it since they're too nervous," I heard a man behind me say. Some chuckle at the comment, and his daughter hit his arm jokingly.

A waitress placed my meal on the table and I smile. I get nervous, but that will never ruin my appetite. People who really know me should know I love eating. I list it as a hobby. I don't finish the large servings of everything, though. They served everyone a stake, crispy vegetables, tasty soup, moist, light bread and fresh fruit. They even served apple cider! I saw my brother push the vegetables aside and I glare at him. "Max, try the vegetables. They're good."

"No matter how many times you tell me that, I'm never eating them." I'm surprised he's strong and tall, he never eats vegetables. Well he'll eat them in burgers, and it's great that he loves them.

Mostly everyone finished eating twenty minutes later, and the waiters and waitresses came back to serve a rich chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate shavings, a strawberry and some mint leaves on top. So much chocolate! It looked _too _good to eat, how could they serve such delicious food every year?

I kind of hope the Agents give me a job as a professional chef so I can have good food every day. I might get sick of the food's richness, though.

I slowly eat my cake so I don't get too full. It was so good, but it was way too big. I felt bad if I didn't finish it. Once they start announcing the Matches for each Matchee, all food will be taken away. I checked my pocket watch and I had ten minutes.

I'm sure ten minutes will be enough.

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"Abigail Maine."

That was probably the girl behind me, because she took a deep breath. I turned around to make sure, and she was giving her mom and scared look. Her mom just patted her shoulder and kissed her cheek. She played with her nails and she stared intensely at the screen on the podium. I really had no clue why she was so nervous; she looked like one of those queen bees from one of the classes at school. Well, everyone feels nervous so I understood.

They were saying the ladies from alphabetical order by last name, and I felt nervous. My last name also begins with an M and an A, so my turn is close.

It took a minute or two for the man's picture to appear. I kind of felt sorry for all the guys, they pretty much had no idea when their name was going to be called. They were going to feel nervous so whole time.

A minute or two later, a boy with golden hair, pale hair and grey eyes appeared. He wasn't that bad, and I heard Abigail take a sigh a relief. Maybe she was thinking that an ugly or fat man was going to appear as her match. Her picture was on the screen already, so now both of their pictures were on the screen. They look cute together. "Joey Olsen," the announcer says. "Abigail Maine, you have been matched to Joey Olsen."

I turn around and see Abigail looking at Joey, and to my surprise their tables were next to each other. They were smiling and waving shyly at each other. It was cute. I wonder if I'll do that too. Will I wave meekly at them? Will I wave strongly at them or just give them a smile? I don't know what I'll do.

Abigail and Joey stood up and walked to the podium to receive their golden box. The box had a microcard that held information of their Match inside. Later on, the box will be used to hold the Marriage Contract and the rings.

Then for the next five minutes, they show pictures of two other now Matched couples. I felt happy for them; they all look relieved, happy and satisfied with their match. Do you see what I mean when I always trust the Agents? Like I said, they pick the best matches.

The girl next to me who was in my physics class, April Mamis, had her name called. She looked at the screen calmly, boy with dark brown hair showed up. Oh that's right; he's the one who always scores the highest in English. He was smart, so I guess congrats to her. She came back, holding the gold colored box. I catch her attention after she finished staring at her Match. "Congratulations," I say.

She smiled. "Thanks, May. I'm guessing you're next." I nod and I feel nervous. Mom holds my hand and we wait another minute for the Agents to discuss some things.

"May Melanie Maple."

My name was called and I let go of my mom's hand. I stand up like others did and I stare at the screen with a smile on my face. I hope my smile wasn't too big or too small, I just hoped that I looked great. The screen showed the best picture the photographer took the other day. I had my silky blue dress on in the picture.

I tried to stay calm but nothing happened. I continued to stare at the screen and wait for the Agents to choose my Match.

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**Oh geez, that was such a long chapter. I'm really satisfied with it, though! (: I was supposed to be doing science and history homework but I was like, 'Nah screw those subjects I'm going to type this.' I mean it's not like I suck at those subjects, I pass them easily but it's just so boring. Actually I like science I just hate the teacher.**

**Anyways, there you go. You have May Maple clenching and unclenching her hands waiting for her Match to appear. But you already know who it is because I said it in the summary. LOL sad. But that's okay doe, it's obvious anyways.**

**Drew is probably going to appear later, but keep with me. His picture is appearing, but not him. Does that make sense? Yes it does, it makes perfect sense.**

**Do I get off topic a lot? I love talking so that's probably what's going on. If you knew me in real life you'd be like 'why is this girl talking about this nonsense?' Hey, at least my writing doesn't get off topic a lot. You don't see May talking about One Direction. LOL.**

**Sorry I got off topic again. I was about to tell you to review. SO REVIEW. Subscribe/alert this story so you know what's going to happen! (: err, how it's going to happen.**

**Until next time,**

**~Citra**


	2. Lucky Name

Hey there fluffy clouds! (: thanks for being patient with the next chapter!

I can't believe I made a typo on my summary. I'm SO stupid. It's a thing I caught it, though. (x so here's the next chapter, and I'm happy you guys enjoyed it. Well, if you did enjoy it. I'm starting a "responses to reviews" in the beginning of each chapter now since I'm just that awesome. LOL.

Just a heads up, I am adding personal twists. It's good to have my ideas thrown in too, right?

_**Responses to Reviews**_

**Thalanthus:** Truth be told, I've only read Matched. I am going to add my own personal twists, just not yet. Also, proofreading is not my thing but I should start doing that. Thanks for reviewing! (:  
**OldRivalShipping: **Thanks! I'm glad to hear that, hope to see your lovely comments soon!  
**MistyxYellowx5: **June? Correction, May? Haha, that's what May would say. Leaf hates him now, but, let's see what happens, kay? (; DON'T WORRY. Oldrivlshipping forever. LOL. I will update soon, thank you so much for reviewing!  
**lefeonchick03: **Okay, great! Hope you continue to like it, thanks for reviewing!  
**reppad98: **YAY IT WAS AWESOME! (: thank you! I know, waiting sucks but here it is! And yes, I should proofread LOL.  
**ALEXXXXXXXX: **You know I started counting the Xs, but then I was like, "You know what copy and paste is really useful at a time like this." (: I know it's sad that you're not the first reviewer, but who cares, it's still EXTREMELY great you reviewed. Wait uh, what's your account? :o  
**Chidori Minami: **Some people just really have to yell mean words to Brendan. I was like that when I made him such an annoying guy. I don't know whose account is yours, but thank you if you've favorite/followed and reviewing!  
**GreenGiantUranus: **I'm sooo glad you loved it! LOL, yes, local libraries are freaking awesome. Can't wait for your futures reviews, thanks for reviewing! (:  
**splitheart1120: **I know. Hopefully something doesn't go wrong with her. Thank you for the review!  
**LiteBulb: **cousin, it's good that it's interesting! You know we've been talking about it for a while. (:  
**EternityRoze262: ** Thank you so much! (: I'm so glad you read it, and I hope to see more of you!  
**TalesGameSeriesLover: **Awww, thanks! You're so sweet, and I shall update soon! Well I'm updating now soo… LOL (: again, thanks!  
**Guest: **Thank you a bunch!  
**CierraLuvsPokemon4Eva: **I'm so glad you loved it! Here's an update!  
**pikachushinystar: **I KNOW it's scary but now you know what's going to happen! Thank you for reviewing, and I update as soon as I could! :D

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Okay, we got that down! You know since I'm thanking my reviewers all the time, I should just say at the end: thanks for reviewing everyone! Yeah… I should do that (x but thank you so much for reviewing, favorite and alerting! (: omg… so many smiley faces, LOL.

Chapter two is now starting!

PS: so excited for Leaf's reaction to her Match.

**Disclaimer: I do not own May's favorite color red or Ally Condie's fabulous imagination.**

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Usually if you know your Match, the Match screen will slowly process your Match's picture. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not; what if it was the guy who sits next to me in history class who picks his nose and eats his boogers? I shook my head. This was not the time to think of negative thoughts. Besides, the Association would never do that to me.

The best thing I could think of now was: _I might know my Match._

My hands scrunched the ruffles of my blue dress and my eyes continued to burn the screen with my stare. Then, his picture showed. Dark brown hair and those ruby eyes I've known since forever…

"Brendan Nathan Birch," the announcer said. My brother turned to look at me, his face was shocked. I was shocked, too, but at the same time I was extremely happy and relieved. Obviously I was also completely overwhelmed. "May Melanie Maple, you have been Matched to Brendan Nathan Birch."

Brendan stands up, and he and I exchange glances. We smile at one another and we both went to the podium to receive out boxes. I felt a little shy when Brendan stood next to me. I smile at him again. What's there to be nervous about? I've been Matched to my best friend.

I went back to my seat and Mom hugged me. Max gave me an amused face and put his thumb up to approve this. I didn't need his approve anyways, you can't decline it. The man sitting behind my Dad tapped his shoulder. Dad turned around and the man said, "Your family has great luck. Now you don't need to worry about what man your daughter ends up with." His daughter hasn't been called yet, and she looked scared. He looks towards my direction and nods. "Congratulations."

"Thank you very much," I say, wiping my hands on the ends of the table cloth. He's wrong, it wasn't luck. The Association always makes the best choices and they're never mistaken, they knew Brendan would be right and perfect for me. I was about to tell the man that her daughter won't end up with a bad man, but the announcer said another girl's name.

I smile to myself, looking down at the ground and taking a deep breath. I put my hands on my cheeks and they were warm. I'm Matched with Brendan.

After hours of thinking of him, the announced says a name that catches my attention. "Leaf Green Xenia," he says. I look at her and she stood up, looking calm. I couldn't help but let out a tiny laugh, she looked, well, it looked like she didn't care at all. Her picture showed on the screen, and it was her sitting on the balcony in her green dress, holding a tea cup and smiling at the camera. It was my favorite picture and I told her to use it.

"Gary Samuel Oak," he said. His picture showed up and my jaw dropped. It was the player that Leaf loathes. To be honest, he was quite good looking. Him and Leaf look great together but he's a player. I turned to see what Leaf's reaction was and she had a disgusted face on. I let out another little, quiet laugh. They walked up to the podium and I saw him whisper something to her with a smirk. She made a face at him and they returned to their seats.

I felt kind of bad. I have a perfect Match and Leaf has a not-so-perfect Match. Maybe he's not that bad, but years of seeing him with multiple girls gives him a bad image. Now Leaf has to be with him for her whole rest of her life.

"Sis," Max said, waving a hand in my face. I blink and look at him. "Do you know the guy Leaf was Matched with? She doesn't look happy."

"Uhh yeah," I said with a nod. "He goes to fourth level with us. He's been to school with us since second level. Leaf doesn't like him because he likes to… I'm sure you know what a player is." He nods, getting what I'm saying. "Yeah, Gary is a player."

"Oh sad," Max said, looking back at the screen.

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As we were about to leave, the hostess of the Match Banquet asked Brendan and my family to stay behind. We waited for everyone to leave and the chefs brought us tea. "This is a strange Match," she said but afterwards she shook her head. "Pardon me. Not strange, just very rare." She pointed at the golden box and tells us what is inside. Why would she tell us this anyways? They already told us in the beginning. "There are extra guidelines that the announcer didn't say, so make sure your family and you look over it when you have a chance."

"Don't worry, we will," Brendan said. I raise an eyebrow at him. He sounds like he's talking to the teacher when saying that. I don't need to read it, I hate reading instructions to games or stuff anyways. Usually Brendan would read it for me and he'd memorize it immediately and tell me the important stuff or something I'd want to know. He knows what I want and don't want to know. We just know each other that well.

I remember reading some of the guidelines all families receive. It was something that always stuck into my head.

_If you are chosen to be Matched, your Marriage Contract will be in use when you turn the age twenty one. Your Match and you are allowed to have children at this age—providing for the most highest likelihood of offspring._

Brendan and I are Matched. We have a Marriage Contract. _We will have children together._

The best part is about being Matched with Brendan is that I don't have to read that microcard to memorize his traits and what he likes and dislikes. I already know it all and I won't have to be worried about our 'first meeting.' We've already had our first meeting, so many years ago.

I know what I go to school, the girls will be bragging about their Match's handsome features, excited, scared or worried about their first meeting and always chatting about their mysterious prince. I won't feel that, I will never feel that. Is that a good thing or bad thing?

We leave and bid the hostess good night and wait for the high-speed train to arrive. I can hear my parents and his exclaiming and chatting about how great our Match was, and I couldn't agree more. It was a miracle, no; the Association has planned this since we were born. Brendan came from behind me and put his arms on my shoulders. He'd always do this when he'd want to say something only for me to hear. Brendan put his mouth close to my ear to say, "And you were nervous to be Matched to me?"

I roll my eyes and he laughs. "See?" he says. "This is why I wasn't nervous at all. I knew."

"I knew, too," I said, teasing him back. "That's why I _was_."

We both laugh so much the high-speed train comes. Our family got the third cart, and we watched all the other families walk in theirs', the girls talking about what it'd be like with their Match. I wonder if it was only me who got someone I knew very well, ever. Maybe someone has once; the hostess said it was 'rare,' not 'it never happened before.'

Brendan took a seat next to me, and our families were way in the back, probably to give us privacy. I felt a little embarrassed and he put his arm around my shoulders. "What's on your mind?" Brendan asked, making it sound like an Internet question, asking them to post your status. I ask what's his, first. "I was thinking about how I'd handle your angriness everyday now."

I elbow him. "How mean!" I pout and he laughs. "I was thinking about Leaf actually, not you." I lied, but that's okay. Lying to him once in a while is fine. I was thinking of him, but that'd be embarrassing to confess. He looked a little disappointed and surprised, and I laugh. "No, it's because she got Matched to Gary, and he's the player of our school."

"Right," Brendan said. "I thought I knew him from somewhere." I nod, I wonder what she's thinking of. I took out my phone and she already had ten texts sent to me. I turned my phone off because it was the rules of the Match Banquet. They were all her complaining about Gary being her Match. I texted: _Maybe fate thought you two were actually a destined couple. _She texted back with an angry face and saying we're meeting tomorrow after school.

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Leaf stirred her ice tea with a straw and she sighed. "I still can't believe it. You got Brendan as your Match and I got Gary? It's so stupid! How could you have great luck and I can't?"

"It's not luck, Leaf." I take a sip of my ice tea and I saw her pout. "The Associations make the best choices. As I said, you two are probably a destined couple." She shakes her head in a disagreement, biting on her straw. She only does that when she's angry, and I guess I get that. "When are you meeting with him?"

"In two nights," she said, letting her straw free from her deathly bite. She tipped her ice team with her pinky and gasped as the last few drops spilled on her simple-clothes. "Aw, crap."

"Oh no," I said, standing up. "What if the Agents saw that? You're not in your work-clothes." She took some napkins from the table and messily wiped it off her grey pants. Ice tea from this café shows a mark when it's spilled. Rules are that you can't get simple-clothes or formal-clothes dirty. School physical-education-clothes, work-clothes, and workout-clothes are okay, but absolutely not the other two. There are different work-clothes, so it really depends on which kind. Like if you're a teacher or doctor, you can't get your work-clothes dirty.

"I have to go home to wash this, but I need to take a taxi to go home quickly." I make a worried face. She could just cover it with her bag, but that'd look a little fishy and the Agents might stop us.

I was about to offer her to come to my house since it was a fifteen minute walk, but then a teen with auburn spiky hair showed up, grabbing her hand. I gasped; it was her Match, Gary Oak. She was caught off-guard by his sudden act and she tried to pull away. "What are you doing here?" Leaf asked, skipping the greeting.

He chuckled. "My, Ms. Leaf Xenia, what manners you have. I was about to offer a ride to my home so you can borrow some simple-clothes from my sister. I have my car outside."

"You have a car?" Leaf asked, shocked.

"I'm rich, it said on my microcard." Gary raised his eyebrows and she made an upset face. "What, did you not look at it last night? I was sure the girl who was Matched to me would try to find out my information as soon as possible."

Leaf rolled her eyes. "Don't think all girls are swayed by your 'charm.'" The way she said charm was like it was what only he thought was charm, and he got the message. Gary sighed and pulled Leaf up from her chair.

He turned to me. "I'm stealing her from you. You mind?" I shake my head and she glared at me. I apologized. "Thank you so much, sapphire eyed beauty," he said to me. I frowned and watched Leaf be stolen away from the auburn haired man.

I stood to follow and I saw them be caught by an Agent. "What are you doing?" the Agent said.

"Going to my home," Gary said. The Agent asked what he was doing to Leaf, and Gary laughed. "Dude, this girl is my Match."

"Oh," the Agent said, nodding. "Excuse me, continue." Gary nodded and Leaf groaned, and she climbed into her car unwillingly and they drove off. Luckily the Agent didn't see Leaf's spill, she would've paid a fine.

My phone in my pocket buzzed and it was Brendan calling. "Hello?" I said after I picked up.

"Where are you?" he said.

"I'm at the West Café," I tell Brendan, making my way home. He asked if he should come pick me up and I shake my head. I groan; why do I always do that? He can't see me, so I'm pretty much just wasting my energy.

"May?" Brendan said.

"Oh right," I said. Wow, I'm so lost today. I shake my head to respond him and we're on the phone, and then I forget to answer his question. I was also still thinking of Gary and Leaf. "You can stay wherever you are. It's only a three minute walk, anyways."

"Alright." I hear Brendan talk to my mother. He was at my house? "You better hurry. Our families are having dinner together."

"What?" I said, picking my pace. "I said I'd be there in three minutes!" He laughs and I roll me eyes and hang up on him. He hates it when I hang up without saying goodbye, but it doesn't matter. I'm seeing him in like a minute or so. I pass by houses that are the same as mine since I live in a hometown. There are only a couple neighborhoods that have a different look from each other. Those are rich people. My dad calls it "Richiville." Get it? Like rich people. Richiville.

In two minutes, I reached my house. I open the door and a homemade smell fills my hose. My oh-so-wonderful mother made her famous, delicious spaghetti and meatballs. Every person who tried it loved it.

Brendan walks up with a smirk on his face. "Don't try stealing a bite, Melanie." I glare at him. He uses my middle name to tease me or get revenge from me. It was probably because I hung up on him.

"Don't worry _bread and butter_." His initials are 'BNB', and that stands for 'bread and butter.' Bam, Brendan, a new nickname for you. Work of a genius. He looks like a lost and it was my turn to smirk.

Eevee come running towards me and she nearly makes me trip. "Hey Eevee," I say, picking her up. She nuzzles her head against my cheek. You can only have one Pokemon unless your work requires more. I chose Eevee, since I love cute and small Pokemon. Plus Eevee won't evolve unless you give it a stone which costs a lot. If it evolves, you need to write another Pokemon Owner Form, and I hate writing forms. Brendan does them for me.

"May honey," my mom says, walking up to me. She had her yellow apron on and her wavy hair was pulled back into a bun. "Change into a new pair of simple-clothes. We will have dinner in ten minutes."

"Kay," I say, taking Eevee and myself up to my room. I hear Max ask Brendan to play video games with him. Boys.

I open my drawer and pull out the grey simple skirt and a green simple v-neck. Eevee jumps on my bed and makes herself comfortable and she takes a long nap. My phone buzzed. It was Leaf:_ Gary's mother is making me stay for dinner and I'm supposed to eat with them in two nights. My mom even agreed and she's not coming over to join us! Now I'm alone with Gary, his mom and sister! But her sister isn't that bad, she's a year older than us. Gary is such a flirt. When I was changing in the bathroom he knocks asking if I need help. I said no and then he asks if I need a bra to change in, and then he says that my size is probably smaller than his sister's so I probably shouldn't. He's SO rude._

I laugh and text back: _you're like newlyweds. Cute. _Again, she texts back with an angry face.

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

After dinner, Brendan stopped me as I was on my way to my room. "May, can I meet you outside?"

"It's cold," I said. "Can't we just meet in my room?" He hesitates and agrees. I secretly laugh, he doesn't like going into a girl's room. Brendan follows me up to my room and we sit down on the floor since Eevee was sound asleep on my bed. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering," he started. "I mean, we're Matched." I nod. "So we're no longer, well, best friends, right?"

"Well we're still friends. Just Matched." This was a really awkward conversation, but I guess I was also thinking and some point, 'how's Brendan and I going to change from friends to a couple?' I play with my hair. "Well… we can start after we meet with the Agents when they test us about our knowledge of each other."

Brendan nods. "Sounds great." We sit there awkwardly. It hasn't been awkward between us before, I guess it was because we've turned from best friends to dating. Brendan's dad calls him down and he stands up. "Well, night May."

"Good night, Brendan," I said, waving at him. He waves back and he leaves my room, shutting the door.

I take out a fresh pair of pajamas and head to the shower.

After, I move Eevee to her mini bed that was sitting next to my larger one gently. I tuck myself in and I hear my parents talking in their room which was next to mine. Eevee moves and she knocks down the compact that was sitting on the floor. I walk out of my bed and set it on my desk.

Inside the compact were three tablets, a blue, green and red one. I know what the green and blue does, but not the red. Only some Agents know, but most people don't know. I go back into my bed and push the thoughts of the tablets away.

It was a night that I can dream of my Match.

My best friend, Brendan.

* * *

**Some parts are the same as the book. For now, I am trying to go the same pace as Ally Condie, just so things don't go too fast. But when stuff gets slow I'm picking the pace a little and forever adding my own twists. The ending will be alike, though.**

**Eep, May is Matched with Brendan and she's going to be dreaming of him tonight! Well she tells herself she's allowed to but that doesn't mean she will. What am I saying? I'm not trying to give anything away. This is just a tiny matter. LOL.**

**On the other hand, Leaf is totally NOT HAPPY about being Matched with the biggest player, Gary. I wonder when she'll fall for him. I mean I know, but you're wondering. YES YOU ARE WONDERING AND YOU DON'T KNOW. I'm so weird.**

**But being weird is great and healthy! :9 I hope you enjoyed this chapter and it makes you wanna drop a review below me! (: alert to know when I put up the next chapter! Also, vote on my poll, it's waiting for you. (;**

**See you all very soon,**

**~Citra**


	3. Tested Wrong

I'm back, dancing mushrooms! :D chapter three has arrived.

Just so you all know proofreading is NOT my thing. I should start doing that, wait did I tell you this? Oh I think I did on my journal on my profile. (x but yeah, I'm going to start doing that.

Thank you for reviewing and I hope you all had a fabulaoustasicta Thanksgiving! I have no idea what that word is, but it doesn't matter. I also wish you a great Black Friday shopping spree, if you are going to shop today. (;

_**Reponses to Reviews**_

**Left-to-die: **Thank you sooo much. I know right, it IS awkward! I don't have any guy best friends, so I wouldn't understand, but yeah it's pretty awkward. Its like, "oh hey best friend, let's go to the movies! Oh wait… omg, we're matched." O_o and of course, I love Gary too. (;  
**TalesGameSeriesLover: **Yess, me too! Thank you, and I've updated as soon as possible! (x  
**KittyKatLovesBooks: **You are so very welcome, and thank you! I added oldrivalshipping because I love them, so I really wanted to get them in this story. (: high five for weirdness LOL. I'm glad you'll be here!  
**Thalanthus: **I know right, plus it's May here! Thank you so muchhh (:  
**GoldenGloryQueen: **Yes I shall update soon and here I am! Thank you a bunchiess. c;  
**lefeonchick03: **Well they go to school together, they don't really talk, but everyone at school knows Gary is a player. I guess some girls like it, but Leaf seems to hate it. I wouldn't want to date a player o: Thank you for reviewing! (:  
**Alexxxxxxxx: **I had to copy and paste your name again… LOL (: well I already PM-ed you a response… thank you for your helpfulness and review!  
**CierraLuvsPokemon4Eva: **hehe, always expect the unexpected. That was some quote from this little kid show this kid I know loves o: thank you!  
**OldRivalShipper: **thank you buchiess! Heart.  
**Madame Kasumi: **Reached is out, right! I wanna buy it, my mom says no. ): I'm thinking of making it into a trilogy, what do you think? c; thank you!  
**Hikari's fantasy: **I guess May is relieved? LOL I love what you said about Leaf and Gary. So true.  
**Chidori Minami:** Thank you for logging in! (: you are so funny! They should just go ditch the Match Banquet and make out in the basement. LOL, I totally agree with you. No worries, though. (;  
**reppad98: **hehe, thanks! Ohhh, Drew isn't showing up just yet. Just wait! (:  
**SpecialxGirl: **why thank you! (: umm, I don't think so.  
**Guest: **Aww, how sweet of you! Thankiess!  
**splitheart1120: **Their Match is rare because you usually don't get Matched to someone you know… it's like a drawing and out of all the hundred boys, somehow your best friend was chosen. That's rare, you know? (;  
**pikachushinystar: **Everything is confusing, huh? Brendan is not Drew in disguise. Yes, she is paired up with Brendan. Just you wait and see. (;  
**xWinterRosex: **Aww thank you a bunch! I will! (: here I am.  
**LiteBulb: **okay… I will. Psh. Thanks.  
**zyzy:** Thank you sooo much! Tata, too! LOL.  
**Enax3: **thanks for reviewing the previous chapter, too! AND YES, GARY WILL SOOTHE LEAF, haha! I can totally imagine that!  
**contestshippier: **you really think so? Thanks! And he will soon. (;  
…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

As I said, in the end, you all deserve a "thank you for reviewing!" and now my eyes are blinded due to all the smiley faces. I'm really happy with the amount of reviews I got. No kidding, thank you so, so much. It motivates me so much to update sooner. Also, thank you to the ones who voted on my poll (8 Guess what: I'm seven away and then I'm 100 people's favorite authors! That's so many people… omg o: oh and by the way, if you see me being rude to LiteBulb just ignore that. She's my cousin, LOL.

Chapter three is up!

**Disclaimer: I do not own May, Leaf, Drew, Brendan or Gary. I also do not own Ally Condie's amazing imagination.**

* * *

My brother was running around the house screaming, "Mom, I need a new pair of simple-clothes!" So, my mom was also running around.

I sat up and tried to recall my dream. I don't remember. Was that a good or bad thing? I looked at my alarm clock and it was still ringing. Wait, exactly how long was it ringing? The clock read half past seven. Shoot, I was supposed to wake up thirty minutes ago! I got out of my bed and ran to the bathroom to do my morning routine.

I walked back in my room and Eevee already pulled out my simple-clothes. I smiled and lifted her up. "Good morning, Eevee! Thanks a bunch, you always help me when I'm late!" she nuzzled my cheek and then tried telling me I should hurry, so I did. I ran downstairs and saw Max stuffing pieces of a blueberry muffin in his mouth. He waved at me and ran out the door. He managed to yell, "Later guys!"

I watch him run to the bus stop and my mom came up and shook her head. "I really don't want to pay a fine for him." There was a rule about no running in public AND littering. I don't think Max will drop the muffin out of his mouth though. "Honey, breakfast is on the table. Help yourself."

"Thanks mom," I said. I sat down and grabbed a fresh, warm blueberry muffin. "When did you make these?"

"This morning," Mom said. "I woke up early because Norman dropped the face wash."

I shook my head. "Oh, dad." We both laugh. "Mom, just to remind you, I'm skipping the first half of school. I have a test, remember?"

"Yes," she said. "Isn't that in two hours?" I nodded. "Then why do you have to go so early?" I didn't answer, I was eating my breakfast. "May Melanie Maple, you just want to skip morning classes, don't you?"

I pouted. "Nooo, morning air-train tickets are cheaper!" she rolled her eyes and sat down to eat with me. "Are you okay with it Mom?"

"Once in a while is fine," she said, winking. "Don't tell your dad though." I laugh. Dad doesn't like it when I skip; he wants me to get good grades so the Agents will pick a good job for me. Either way, I won't be a doctor since I'm really bad a science. Mom is a translator, so she works at home. She can speak like seven languages and she's nearly fluent in all of them. Max and I only know two languages. "May, the next high speed train leaves in ten minutes. You should get going."

"Okay," I said. I wiped the crumbs of my face and went to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of milk. I walked to my mom and kissed her cheek. "See you later!"

"Bye honey!" she said. I waved and walked out the door. Before I took any step further, I checked my bag to see if I had the microchip and everything else I need. I did, and I was on my way.

So the test I'm taking is a test on Brendan. You have two; one two days after your Match Banquet and then one a week before your wedding. So that's in four years, you get married when you're twenty one. I'm going to ace this test, I know Brendan like knowing my favorite song. We're both going to get a hundred percent.

Sometimes I don't understand why you need to take tests about your Match. I especially don't get why it has to be two days after you're Matched. Why not two weeks? The Association probably has their reasons, so I'm not going to complain about it. Except in my mind, they can't hear it. It's not like I understand, I'm not worried about the test.

My phone rang. "Hello?"

"May, you have your test today, right?" it was Leaf calling. Hello to you too, thanks for greeting me!

"Yeah," I said. "Don't you?"

"Mhhmm," she said. She sounded like she was running, and I asked her why. "I'm trying to get to the high-speed train! You're there, aren't you? I actually stopped by your house."

"Oh, sorry." I looked around to see if my brunette friend was here. "Where are you?" I felt a finger tap my shoulder and I turned around. Her finger poked by while I was turning. "Ugh, I hate it when people do that!"

"Do what?" Leaf laughed. "Sneak up on you?"

I turned my phone off and dropped it in my bag. I shook my head. "No, when people tap your shoulder and when you turn they already have their finger ready to poke you."

"Oh," Leaf laughed again. I slapped her arm playfully and we heard the high speed train gave us a signal that it arrived. Leaf and I climbed into a cart. "Did you study?"

I smirked. "Why would I need to study Brendan's stuff? We wrote our applications of our information together." Leaf agreed. "Did _you _study?"

"Yeah," Leaf said. She then made a face. "Do you know what he wrote down for one of his hobbies? He wrote 'embracing girls.' It's like seriously, why would you write that?" I laughed for minutes and she let out a little laugh.

"What were his other hobbies?" I asked.

"Playing basketball, singing with the guitar and uh, talking." Leaf couldn't help but smile.

I laugh at the last one. I can somehow imagine that. "You two are alike, kind of. You like basketball and singing. You play the keyboard instead, and you're good at talking." She looked confused. "No like, you know, you can talk to people easily? Does that make sense?"

She shrugged. "Kind of." Leaf pulled out a piece of gum from her bag and tossed it in her mouth. "I guess we have some things in common. But I'm not a player."

"Hey, I want a piece of gum." She sighed and went in her bag and tossed me a piece of sherbet strawberry gum. I opened it and put it between my teeth. After chewing it for a while I ask, "What do you think about him so far?"

Leaf shrugged again. "I don't really know yet, I've only had dinner with me. He's really open, so that's pretty nice. It won't be awkward, but I think we'll fight a lot."

"Yeah I see that too," I said.

"But yeah, I can't judge him yet," Leaf said. "And he has to stop being with other girls because he's got a Match now, so I'm not bothered with that anymore." Cheating on your Match is crime, and you have to pay a fee, go to trial, and it gets really complicated. It rarely happens because people are usually happy who they got Matched with. If they're not happy, then they try to live with it and fake the happiness. That's what the Agents said to do. "Is it ever awkward now that you're Matched with Brendan?"

I shook my head. "He tries to make it as less awkward as possible. That's why he's such a sweet guy." Leaf didn't say anything. "But sometimes I think it's weird. I mean, I've seen him as my best guy friend for seventeen years of my life and bam, we're Matched. We're going to get married and have kids and stuff."

You know, that actually _is_ really weird. As I said, for seventeen years of my life, Brendan has been listed as a best friend. Now… life is really changing. "You okay?" Leaf said, bringing me out of my thoughts. I nodded numbly. "It's alright; don't think too hard about it. It's Brendan for goodness sake! He'll bring you happiness, I wouldn't be worried. It's better than my Match."

"At least Gary is hot," I said. She rolled her eyes and looked embarrassed, but happy. I laughed. "Oh, we're here." Our door opened and we both walked out, seeing a lot of teens, mostly seventeen year olds, looking around and wondering how to get to wherever they were going. Leaf knew where we had to go; she went with her cousin last year. "Wait Leaf," I said. She stopped and turned around. "What time is your test?"

"Um in five minutes," Leaf answered. "Yours?"

"In two hours," I said.

Leaf frowned. "Why are you here?" I gave a sheepish smile and turned away. "You just wanted to skip morning classes, right?"

"My mom let me though!" I defended.

Leaf rolled her eyes. "You are just like a five year old." I pouted. "Whatever, you stay there. The test is like half an hour, so play your phone or something. I'm going to go."

"Good luck!" I said.

"Who needs luck?" Leaf asked. She laughed. "I'm acing this."

Leaf disappeared into the large crowd. I can tell she's happy about being with Gary; she just doesn't like his cockiness. But you know everyone has their flaws.

I listened to Leaf and played my phone, and I saw five unread texts. They were all from April.

April Walker is my friend I met last year at school. She's turning seventeen next week, so she'll probably have her Banquet in two weeks or so. Her first text was saying her Gengar, the Pokemon she chose, kept playing pranks on her. The rest was just asking about who my Match was.

I replied: _Gengar probably wants to spend time with you before you get Matched. And I'm Matched with Brendan. _She replied with a shocked face and a "what?" She then called me up. "Hello?" I said after picking up.

"You're Matched with Brendan?" she half-yelled in my ear. She didn't even let me answer. "Dude, that's insane! Being Matched with your best friend? Why would they do that!? That must be hell of awkward, it'd be like, 'okay hi… we're best friends and now I'm going to marry you.'"

"Wow April," I said, rolling my eyes. "Thanks for making me feel so much better."

She gasped. "What, are you not happy with it?"

"Nah, I'm fine," I said. "Are you nervous for your Banquet?"

"Not really," April chirped. "I mean, I know all the boys in my grade. There might be a chance I'll be Matched to one of them, and none of them are gross or anything. Except Hamilton, but he's already Matched so I don't have to worry." April was one of those carefree people. And if something was coming up, she'll prepare. I guess she prepared by talking to all the guys in the school. "Who's Leaf Matched with?"

"Oh it's so sad," I said. "Just kidding; he's pretty cute."

I know April was excited. "Are you serious? Who is it?"

"Gary. Gary Oak."

"Are you serious?" April said.

"Yeah."

April went silent and finally she said, "Well, he can't 'play' with other girls anymore since he's Matched."

"I know," I said. "At first she was so mad, but now she doesn't seem to mind. In fact, she looks happy."

"Maybe something happened," April suggested. I agreed and we talked for the next forty five minutes.

"Don't you have school?" I just noticed that. Everyone has school today, but if you have a test you miss your classes. Like all provinces, you cannot skip school.

"I'm sick," she said.

"Sure," I said sarcastically. April started to explain how sick she was and why she needed to stay home, but she sounded fine to me. Leaf walked up to me and I smiled at her. "April, I have to go now, bye!"

April sighed. "Bye bye, May." We hung up and I stood up.

"How was it?" I asked.

She sighed and gave me her score. They print out your score and it looks like a receipt. She scored a ninety seven. "What did you get wrong?" I asked. I didn't want to look at all the questions, there were a hundred.

"I thought he had Charizard," Leaf said, groaning. "He has a Blastoise. I also didn't know his Grandma already passed away and I didn't know when he was a baby he had blond hair."

"Um what?" I said. "Who needs to know that?"

"Exactly!" Leaf exclaimed, clearly pissed about it. "Now you're going to have a higher score than me."

"Hey," I laughed. "If I wasn't Matched with Brendan, I'd probably fail the damn test."

Leaf nodded. "You probably would."

I gave her a 'seriously' face. "Oh em gee, thanks!" I said sarcastically.

She ignored my sarcasm. "Wanna get something to eat?" she paused. "Or we could go to one of the stores down there."

"Let's do that," I said. "I'm kind of full."

"Yeah, me, too," she said. We both strolled around the stores that were close to the YMTD (Your Match Test Department), it'd be better not to take a high-speed train since my test was in a little more than an hour.

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

An hour passed, and I didn't buy anything. Leaf bought a new pair of sunglasses. "So what's the procedure of the test?"

Leaf thought for a moment. "First you connect your microchip with the touch screen TV. Then your Match's picture appears, you type in your ID and password, and then you have to answer all a hundred questions. They're multiple choice, true or false and fill in the blank questions."

"Oh I'll be fine," I said, relieved. "I'll see you later then, Leaf!"

She smiled and waved. "Alright, bye! I'll be waiting here, good luck."

"Thanks," I said.

I took a deep breath and the two Agents scanned me with their devices and both nodded at me. "Room three ten," one said, and the door opened for me. I nodded at them, too, and made my way to the given room. I am not scared, I am not calm, I am not nervous. I know it.

Inside has a touch screen TV, just like Leaf said. There was a small table, and there were directions and instructions. I first had to connect the microchip with the computer. The TV turned auto automatically. A window asking for my full name and password appeared. I typed it down.

"_May Melanie Maple, we are happy to present you your Match," _the TV said. Eh, it wasn't exactly what you call 'talking'; it was like a robot reading something to you.

I wasn't sure if it was supposed to work fast, because it was taking quite a while. After a couple minutes, I checked the directions which read, _'Your Match's picture should appear within less than a minute.' _I didn't want to call an Agent, so I chose to be patient and wait for Brendan's picture to appear.

Finally, a man's picture appeared. My heart stopped.

It wasn't Brendan.

* * *

**You know when you make another paragraph for each sentence, it just feels so scary and stuff? It's like omg… dun, dun, dun! Too bad I can't add like pictures to show May's shocked face. I'd ask my older sister to draw that for me.**

**Sorry it was short.**

**SO BAM, Drew is about to show himself. Where have you been hiding? Drew: away from you. Yeah, I know Drew; he just hates it when I write about it. Sometimes I make him so unmanly. I can't help it, he's short and his voice is so unmanly! But I make you cool and hot so you're welcome.**

**I'm so sorry, I got off topic again. So hopefully I didn't switch tenses too much. I'm reallyyyy not so smart with that. But it's funny I got an A in English Language Arts. **

**REVIEW! You have NO IDEA how happy I was with the number of reviews. I was also soo happy that people favorite and alerted this story… and ME! OMG! Kay, I'm so…**

**Anyways, bye. Review!**

**~Citra**


	4. Without Thinking

Hey flying flowers, welcome back! Chapter four is here! (:

To everyone: thank you for reviewing and reading!

_**Responses to Reviews**_

**SpecialxGirl: **Yes, I did know that! :D And I know, isn't she?  
**CierraLuvsPokemon4Eva: **Okies dokes, thanks!  
**KittyKatLovesBooks: **LOL I wish in the book they showed us a picture of the main character's face. I bet it's an "O_o" face. Ahaha, you're so funny. Drew is coming!  
**WithoutACupofTea: **I'm not stopping LOL! Well I did stop the chapter since I'm really mean… Well it's being resumed since chapter four is up! Thank you so much. c:  
**The Moltres's Flame: **Haha I know how you feel! Thank you bunchies, sweetheart. (x  
**Bessa:** Why yes he is! And thank you for reviewing every chapter! You have my love. (;  
**Enax3: **Everyone can't, huh? Haha, I know right? Okay!  
**reppad98: **Thank you a bunch! DREW, DREW! Come out, come out, wherever you are! HAHA.  
**liv2laugh00: **Yes high five! Thank you so much and I will.  
**guest: **okay (;  
**Hikari's fantasy:** Well Max can't be assigned to all the language classes since he can't pick them. The teachers do. (x And I totally agree, I love contestshipping and oldrivalshipping the most. Yeah, I really wanted contestshipping to appear soon and once I put up chapter three I was like YES CONTESTSHIPPING! (:  
**rabiya123: **Aww thanks, you're so sweet! Yeah they are friends and Matched… it's all so weird, huh? Thank you a lot! I'm so glad you're loving it!  
**pikachushinystar: **YES I WILL! (: I love them, too. You're right, May won't. She WILL though. (;  
**LiteBulb: **That's okay, be proud about it :P ! He is, right? c:  
**leafeonchick03:** Why yes she is! Hooray! (:  
**splitheart1120: **Fate? Things happen… I wouldn't think they would either!  
**Left-to-die: **Until I do what? Should I answer them? Yes, I shall (; It's possible somehow. Umm… continue to read what happens next! May will say it all!  
**OldRivalShipper: **It. Did. Just. Happen. (: thank you!  
**Chidori Minami: **I know, I am. LOL. OMG DREW!  
**Madame Kasumi: **Okay, but first off I should buy Crossed and Reached. I really want them in my room. But maybe I'll add my own personal twist… (: thank you!  
**Pokemonchen: **Yes life is confusing huh? (: there were technical difficulties. The chapter will explain more! (:  
**TheOriginalLegendaryMaster: **Hehe, read this chapter! And I know right, Leaf and Gary so are destined for each other. (8  
…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

Again, my eyes are blinded by smiley faces. Not that I'm complaining about it. I really hope I don't say this all the time. You know I have a thing where I call people only 'sweetheart' where they're being super nice to me (I play an online game sometimes). I mean you're all sweetheart I just… I don't know. Don't think I'm an old granny, I'm only thirteen. LOL. Oh now five people away till I'm hundred author/reader's favorite author! THAT'S SO AMAZING.

Anyways, I love you all. Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting and alerting. You're amazing. I only had three chapters with sixty two reviews. That's so freaking amazing. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Wow I'm only on chapter four and it sounds like this is the last chapter. Don't worry, it's not.

I talk too much.

Chapter four!

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon characters I chose to write about. I also do not own Ally Condie's amazing imagination. **

* * *

I felt my heart shake in fear when I see the unknown face. My hands reached to touch the screen but it blanked just like that. In those five seconds, I was extremely startled. I've never felt that scared and startled in my life.

I stared at the blank screen. "What just happened?" I exclaimed. I was waiting for Brendan's picture to show up but someone else's shows up. I recall what he looked like. He had a fair color of skin with emerald green hair with emerald green eyes to match.

But that's not important right now. Something happened that should have never happened. The Association just made a mistake. A big one. I don't think being Matched has this many difficulties.

No, do I have two Matches? That can't be right, it's against the law. I felt my head throb; I'm over-thinking.

The door opens and an Agent walks in. She gives me a confused look. "I got an order to come here immediately. What happened?"

I took a deep breath. "I don't know what happened."

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

I was sent home and she said the Agents will talk over the matter. They looked at the history of what the TV screen was viewing, and I saw the face I wasn't supposed to see again. Though I felt like I saw him before; he didn't look like a complete stranger to me.

My mom set a cup of hot tea in front of me. "What happened?" she asked, pouring a cup for herself. I blew the tea lightly. "You've been quiet since the test. Did you get a bad score? That would be impossible."

"Um no I did fine," I said.

"Then what happened?"

I smiled at her. It was forced, but this was nothing to worry about. "No, it's all good." The Agents were going to find me soon after they've talked things through. I'm still extremely scared about what they're going to say. "Mom, I'm going to take a shower. I feel dirty, there were a lot of people."

Mom nodded understandingly. "Go ahead, honey. I'm always open if you need to empty out your mind."

I smiled again. "Thanks, Mom. But trust me, I'm okay." I walked away and went to my room. Eevee jumped off from my bed and ran to me. I lifted her up. "Hey Eevee. You're so lucky you don't have to be Matched. Sometimes it makes you confused and lost."

Eevee tilted her head. I laughed. "You don't understand. That's kind of obvious." I opened my drawer that had all of Eevee's stuff. I took out one of her favorite toys and a snack. I set it on the ground. "Eevee, the day after tomorrow you have to come to school with me. I have a Pokemon class and I have to bring you. Be excited okay?"

She didn't respond; she continued to chew down her snack. "I guess you don't care. That's okay, too." I pulled out some pajamas. Wait, pajamas? I checked the time and it read a quarter to three. I must be really tired. I took out a pair of simple-clothes instead.

I was really worried about what the Agents are going to say. I don't want a new Match, nor do I want two Matches. That will make me look like a player, and that is something I don't want.

I stood up and went to my bathroom to refresh myself with a hot shower.

Who would know that being Matched causes this much frustration?

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Mom knocks on my door. "Yeah Mom?" I said after I opened it. "Brendan and I don't need anything if that's what you wanna ask." Brendan and I were studying for midterms, he helps me with biology. I suck at it. Mom's face was worried, and I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"An Agent called us," Mom said. "They want you to go the Base A and they want to speak to you."

"Oh when?" I asked. I asked it too casually; hopefully she wasn't thinking I expected them to call. I mean, I've been waiting for them to call or come.

"Right now," she said. "Hurry and change into some new clothes. I will, too."

She was about to leave them room, but I stopped her. Mom was scared with the Agents. Every time they come, Mom would leave it all to Dad. She would always hide the face she was scared, though. "Mom, you don't have to come with me. I'll be fine."

Brendan stood up from his chair and walked to us. He had the same worried face. "Are you sure, May? You can always bring someone with you, you know."

"Yeah, you're right," I said. I bent down and picked up my Pokemon. "I'll bring Eevee!" Brendan looked someone disappointed and I burst out laughing. I know he wanted me to say I wanted him to come along with me. But I won't let that happen. I don't want him, or anyone, to know about what happened. "Brendan, it's just the Agents. I didn't do anything wrong, they probably just want to talk about our Match."

"Then I should come!" he protested. Mom had already left us alone since Max called her.

"No!" I yelled, pushing him out of the room. "For God's sake, I'm fine! Go home, I'll call you when it's over and tell you what happened." He muttered a fine and I shut the door. Boys.

I fixed my hair and changed my clothes as Mom said. I walked down and saw Mom doing the dishes. "I'm leaving now!" I said. "Did Brendan leave?"

"Yeah," she said. "You should be more kind to him. He is your Match." I rolled my eyes. "Be safe, honey. Call me when it's over."

I smiled. "Okay, I'll be going now!"

Minutes later I reached Base A, and Agent guided me to the room I was called to. I opened and there was an Agent shuffling papers. I walked in and saw two other Agents standing beside her. She looked over at me and smiled. "Take a seat, Ms. Maple."

I scrambled to the leather chair and straightened my skirt. I bet she could tell I was nervous. "Don't worry," she said a few seconds later. "You are still Matched to Brendan Nathan Birch."

My hands immediately covered my heart. I took a l0ud sigh. "Thank you," I said my voice full of relief. "Thank you."

The Agent nodded. "I don't know what happened." She clicked around on her computer and said, "Your test has been rescheduled to this Friday twelve twenty five pm."

"Okay," I said. "Can you tell me who was it I saw? I feel like I saw him before… like I know him."

She nodded again, recalling who it was. "Yes, it was Andrew Christopher Hayden. He attends Corconia Academy, he is seventeen years old." Corconia Academy is a school for higher class people. How could I see him? I never pass by that school. Ever.

I just had to ask this question, though: "Is he Matched?"

"No," she said.

"Why is that?"

"Andrew is an Aberration."

I gasped. He's an _Aberration?_

Aberrations live in the Association with us; they are not dangerous like Anomalies. Aberrations are watched though because of a Sin. Sins are crimes.

Then why would he appear on my Matching screen? What is his job? Why is he working? What happened? I had so many questions, but asking so much about him is troublesome. Now that I know he's not my Match or anything like that, I have no connection him anymore.

"Oh by the way," she started, her warm smile returning to her face. "Congratulations on your Match." I thank her again. Everybody in our Province was talking about. Maybe even the whole Association. "This hasn't happened before. Well, at least not when I was alive."

I laughed. "I know."

She laughed, too. "I want to see your microcard," the Agent said. "Did you bring it with you?"

"I might have," I said, looking in my bag. I checked the little pocket it was in before, and it was. I pulled it out and handed it to her. "I didn't take it out since the day I was supposed to have my test. I was… scared."

"I understand," she said. She inserted it in her computer and I watched her press some buttons. Then, she turned it. "This is the man we were supposed to see, correct?"

I smiled. "Yes, that is him."

"Good," she said. She ejected it and put the tiny cap of the microcard back on. She handed it to me. "Looks like everything is okay now. You are dismissed. Have a safe day."

I bowed. "Thank you very much." An Agent escorted me back to the entrance of the Base. He bids be farewell and I do, too.

I take my cell phone out and call my mother like she wished. I waited for my high-speed train. Mom didn't pick up. "Hey Mom, it's May. My, um, meeting is over so I'll be on my way home now. See you soon!" I hung up. I called Brendan and he picked up. "Hey Brendan. I'm done."

"How was it?" he asked. "What were you talking about?"

"It was fine," I said. I can't tell Brendan what we're talking about. Even though everything has been settled, I still feel it's not right to tell him. "My test scores weren't transferred successfully so they told me to retake it this Friday." Now that partially wasn't a lie.

"Oh you're lucky; you get to skip school again." He sounded jealous and I laughed. "Hey, I'm going to go. My dad wants me to help me with his research."

"Okay," I said. "Talk to you later!" he said bye and we both hung up.

The high-speed train came and I took my own cart and we were on my way back home.

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

"So what happened?" I asked Leaf.

"What do you mean?"

I smirked. "You know. Remember, last night you called me saying Gary picked you up with a banquet of roses? You called me while you were picking out some formal-clothes."

"Oh," Leaf said, sounding a little embarrassed. "We went out to this really fancy restaurant." I grinned and she glared at me. "It was really expensive. He paid for it all."

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed. "I think if it were Brendan he'd split the cost with me." She laughed and I did, too. "And how was the night? Besides the food."

"It was…" she thought of a good word. "It was nice." We were at her part-time job. When you're age fourteen, you can get a part-time job. But once the Agents choose a job for you, part-time jobs are no more. She was a floater at a formal-clothes store. There were many kinds: dresses, suits, blazers, party dresses, gowns and amazing jewelry.

"What was so nice about?" I asked. "Like what happened?"

Leaf set some silver, sparkly heels on a shelf. "We talked. He told me stories, and I did, too." I waited for more and she gave me a look. "I got to know more about him. He lives with his grandfather, parents and sister. His grandfather is seventy eight."

That means two more years until he dies. You can only live to be eighty years old.

"What else?" I asked, deciding not to talk about that. "Did he say anything about you?"

"No…" she said. "Oh wait. He called stunning, amazing, cute and funny."

I gasped. "_All _at the same time?"

"What?" Leaf exclaimed. "No!" I giggled and she rolled her eyes. Leaf's phone buzzed and she looked at the caller ID. "It's Gary. Hold on a second, okay?" I nodded. "Hello? I'm at work. Yeah, that place. You're here?" I laughed. "Umm, okay my shift is over in like five minutes. How about you come in? Kay." She hung up. She was about to tell me what happened but I stopped her.

"I heard it all," I said.

"Oh, right," she said. She looked embarrassment. It's so obvious Leaf has fallen for Gary. She's just too stubborn to admit it.

"I'm here Leaf," I heard a man's voice say. I jerked around and saw him. He was pretty tall, and had the same auburn spiky hair. "Double brunettes."

"This is my best friend May," Leaf says, swinging her arm around my neck. I grinned. "May, this is Gary, my Match."

I nodded. "I think I know that."

He held out his hand, waiting for me to take it. I did. "I'm Gary Oak; treat me nicely since I'll be stealing your best friend at times."

"I'm May Maple," I said. "And let's see if I let you take her away."

"Hey, you have your own Match," he defended.

Leaf scoffed. "I feel so loved." Gary and I both laughed and we let go of each other's hands. I guess this guy isn't so bad after all.

Gary checked his large, black watch. "Leaf, it's been three minutes. Can we go now? I wanna take you somewhere." He then looked at me. "See? I'll be stealing her."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically.

"Umm, is that okay, May?" Leaf asked.

I waved my hand. "It's fine. Go on and be lovey dovey, but don't forget to tell me the details."

"Okay, sorry!" Leaf said. Gary grabbed her hand. "I'll talk to you later." I waved goodbye at the Matched couple. I heard Leaf say, "Why are you so mean to May?" I laughed. They're so cute.

I left the formal-clothes outlet and went to the train station. I waited for a high-speed train to come.

But it doesn't come. Instead, the speakers around the station turn on since I heard a little beep noise. _"Attention all passengers. The high-speed train is delayed due to difficulties. We are sending an accessible-train immediately. Please wait a couple minutes." _The speakers shut off afterwards. Accessible-trains are trains that aren't in carts. It's like what people call a 'subway.'

Like they said, it came in a few minutes. People climbed on, and luckily there weren't a million people. There were still a couple empty seats, so I took one.

Thoughts of Andrew Hayden still filled my mind.

I looked up, and there was a green-haired teen. Just like the teenager I saw in the picture.

He looked back at me.

Our eyes met.

And without thinking, I took a step towards him.

* * *

**AHAHA I KNOW I'M MEAN.**

**But Drew appeared! :D But he's a bad guy since he committed a Sin. Just kidding. Wrong.**

**So here are some vocabulary words. Yes, this is English class.**

**Aberration: Aberrations live in the Association with us; they are not dangerous like Anomalies. Aberrations are watched though because of a Sin.**  
**Anomalies: someone who has done a major crime and has been banished from the Association.**  
**Sin: a crime.**

**In the book they used _Infraction _instead of _Sin. _I also changed a bunch of other words, like they used _Officials _instead of _Agents _and _Society _instead of _Association. _Some other ones but I don't remember it completely.**

**Anyways, I hope this chapter answered some dying questions. I loved reading your reviews, and you know what? I was dying to write more. During English class I was writing the next chapter in my notebook. Ugh, we're reading Julius Caesar. And it's not modern English; it's like… poetry language. It's so annoying to read. _O piteous spectacle! O noble Caesar! O woeful day! O traitors, villains! O most bloody sight! _It's like… this is a good story can I read the modern English version? I don't know what they're saying (: .**

**Kay, whatever. Review, okay? I'll be waiting. Thank you for reading!**

**Oh yeah, sorry it was shorter than last time. )x review, though.**

**Until next time,**

**~Citra**


	5. Fated Assignment

Hey there, pretty snowflakes! Wanna know why I said that? Where I'm living—it's freaking SNOWING! SNOW! (: I'm not Canadian.

_**Responses to Reviews…**_

**KittyKatLovesBooks: **Aww thank you, you are sooo sweet! Hopefully that didn't come out wrong. And I like poetry… just not… Shakespeare language? Well I liked Romeo and Juliet, kind of. I like what he writes but I just dislike his writing style haha. I like modern English. (x  
**drewxmay: **I know, Drew and May moments will come soon. Please wait! (;  
**rabiya123: **Aren't they cute? I will update soon, and thank you!  
**reppad98: **Yeah (x I do. It's fine in modern English, though. Oh well, at least you reviewed! I'll always miss you if you forget, though LOL. Thank you bunchiess for reviewing!  
**liv2laugh00: **I know haha. Okay I shall wait for you to do it again!  
**Birdie118: **omg if you read the book don't forget about me! Haha just kidding. I can't agree with you more—this is made for contestshipping! Thank you, you are so nice!  
**pikachushinystar: **Is it the best because Drew appeared? Haha (; you're so awesome, thanks! And thank you for reviewing _Your Attention_!  
**TalesGameSeriesLover: **Really? I guess I just blab my mouth off… (x thanks, I think everyone loved Drew's appearance. Even me!  
**LiteBulb: **Why yes he did. Okay! (:  
**Lola: **I will update as soon as I can! Thanks!  
**Enax3: **Yeah you agree with me! Haha, I don't think kissy scenes will show up just yet.  
**SpecialxGirl: **You think? (: well keep reading!  
**Guest (3 word review): **Naw that's not true. I like it in modern English.  
**Guest (6 word review): **Yeah oldrivalshipping! (: glad you liked it.  
**Sarah's fantasy: **LOL well I'm going to just say there's not killing in this story. Where did that come from? (x yeah Gary is such a gentleman… (sarcasm).  
**OldRivalShipper: **No? YES! SHE DID! XD  
**Gloss Gurl: **You're so sweet, thank you! I will! (:  
**CierraLuvsPokemon4Eva: **Yesss he came out of his hiding place! Thank you a bunch! (:  
**shadowkittyxX: **Every author loves cliffhangers, huh? (x thank you, I'm so glad you liked it!  
**Pokemonchen: **So he kind of, well, actually… just read this chapter. I will update soon!  
**Left-to-die: **You can probably find it at hour library if you wanna read it… nope you're not an idiot, it is the girl in the bubble! (; I actually like Gary more than Drew… but I love contestshipping and oldrivalshipping equally. (x my top favorites.  
**splitheart1120: **Hmm, I wonder…  
**Madame Kasumi: **I know I'm mean! :D I accidentally ripped one of the pages in Matched (my stupid geometry and algebra 2 textbooks did it)! They're on mine, too! (:

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You guys are awesome. WE HAVE SWAG. Yeah, inside joke at school. Not funny.

Thank you ALL for reading and reviewing! I'm so happy… I'm not going to give my happy speech again. Just thank you. And I'm freezing, my mom doesn't like turning the heater on. ):

GUESS WHAT? I'm on more than ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE'S favorite authors list! Dude that's amazing. More than a hundred. I'm so amazed since everyone's amazing!

Enough of my mouth.

You guys are going to love this chapter! (:

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Ally Condie's fantastic creation!**

* * *

As I took a step towards him, I felt confused.

What am I doing? He and I have nothing to do with each other. It would be quite surprising if some random person approached me. I would be startled.

The train stops and people leave the train. I could see Andrew due to all the people.

When the doors close, I look at where he was.

He wasn't there anymore.

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"We have a project this week," my pokemon teacher said. It was the last period of school, and Eevee was trying to escape from my arms. Now I know Eevee hates school. "You are to go to an environment your pokemon has never been to. Then, go and battle someone who is used to environment. You can choose anyone to be your partner."

Luckily, Leaf is in my class. "Leaf," I said. I glared, Gary was talking to her. "Leaf, want to be my partner?"

"Sorry May," Gary said. He wrapped his arms around Leaf. "She's mine."

"I really can't ever spend time with her now, huh Gary?" I challenged. He shook his head. "You're such a jerk." But at least he loves Leaf. Leaf still won't admit to me that she loves him. It's obvious.

Our teacher passed out a worksheet to everyone. We had to fill in our pokemon, its types, moves and favorite environment. Then we had to write where we battled, who we battled, their pokemon, type and moves. "This is a lot," I said. "Look, we even have to write the whole battle."

"Wouldn't it be better if we recorded it?" Leaf joked.

"Actually, that would be better," I said. "I wonder if we could do that." I raised my hand and waited for the grey haired teacher to call on me. When she did, I asked, "Can't we just record the battle?"

"You may," she said. "But you still have to fill in the worksheet."

I sighed. She's a little strict. "You can record it and then write down the battle. I think it'd be easier that way."

"You're right," I said. "Gary, what pokemon do you have?"

"Blastoise," he said. "He's in his pokeball. Why don't you return your Eevee?"

I shook my head. "Eevee doesn't like her pokeball."

The bell rang and I put all my stuff in my folder. Eevee sat on the floor, and she looked like she wanted to fall asleep right there. I lifted her up and carried her gently so she could sleep. "Where are you going now?" I asked Leaf.

"Gary's kidnapping me to another place," Leaf said. "We're going to study. May, I'm really sorry I haven't been spending any time with you! Don't worry, I still love you! Gary is just being selfish."

"No, its okay," I said. "I can hang out with Brendan."

Gary grabbed my brunette friend. "We're leaving. Say bye to your friend." Leaf started to fight with him and I laughed. It was cute. He waved at me and they were gone. Yeah, I was a little sad Leaf had no time for me, but I understand. I think once they're closer than they are now, Leaf will hang out with me again.

I went to my locker to put some of my stuff away. I glanced around and people were hanging out with their Matches. They looked happy. They looked shy.

As I leave the school, my phone vibrates. I pull it out of my pocket while still holding Eevee gently. "Hello?" I said after picking up.

"It's Brendan," he said.

"Oh hi," I said. "What's up?"

"Yeah my pokemon class is going to Mt. Pyre," he said. "Then we're going to another city, it's a week. Is your class doing that, too? I think another class is going, too."

I gasped. "Are you serious? You're going on a trip?"

"Yeah," Brendan said. He sounded disappointed. "Aww, you're not going? That sucks. I wish you were, May."

I smiled. "Aw aren't you such a sweetie?" he didn't say anything and I laughed. "Sorry. No, my teacher isn't the nicest person you know. Our assignment is bringing our pokemon to an environment they're unfamiliar with. And we have to battle someone whose pokemon is familiar with the place. Then we have to write the battle down."

"Oh that sucks," Brendan said.

"I know, right?"

I heard Brendan talking with his friends for a few seconds. "May, I gotta go. I'm going out with my friends."

"Oh have fun," I said. We said our goodbyes and hung up. I decided to take an accessible-train just for the heck of it. It's pretty nice the train station is only five minutes away from school.

I paid for my ticket and waited for the train to come. It's really cold today. Yesterday was such a nice day and today is just… bleh. It's all foggy, grey and cold. I'd rather live on happy days. You know, sunny, bright and smiling days.

The train comes and I climb on and take a seat at the end. Maybe fifteen others climb on as well.

I hug Eevee and look outside. Well, today is a day Eevee isn't used to. It might be good to do the assignment today and get it over with. I could call April and she might be able to battle me. Actually, she's in Brendan's pokemon class. Nevermind, ignore that idea.

As the last passengers climb on, one sits next to me. A scent of roses surrounds him and I turn to get a good look at him. Did he just come from—

I gasped. It was Andrew Christopher Hayden. He was sitting next to me today. I guess he doesn't take the high-speed trains because they're expensive. But whatever, he's sitting next to me. He turned a frowned, probably because I gasped. "Sorry," I said. "I was surprised."

"By what?" he asked. His emerald eyes were shining even though it's such a dull day.

"No," I said. "It's nothing."

Andrew chuckles. "You're interesting. What's your name?"

"May," I said. "And this is my Eevee."

"I'm Drew," he said. So he goes by Drew. I've been thinking about him as 'Andrew' all along. I'm glad I didn't say 'Hi Andrew' yesterday. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," I said. "You?"

"Seventeen as well," he said. "So June, where are you going now?"

"May," I corrected. I wasn't sure if he did that on purpose or not. He was smirking, so he was probably joking. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Drew laughed. "What if I did?"

"You're mean," I said, pouting.

He laughed again. "Did you just come from school?" I nodded. "Why'd your Eevee come with you? I don't remember bring pokemon to school all the time."

"That's because I don't bring her to school every day," I said, laughing. "I have a pokemon class and my teacher told everyone to bring their pokemon." I look down at Eevee. "She has nap time, that's why she's sleeping. And she doesn't like her pokeball."

"Oh," Drew said. He flipped his hair. Somehow I feel a sense of arrogance from this teenager. "What did the teacher need?"

"An assignment," I said, groaning. I explained the assignment the teacher gave us. "My best friend has been taken by her Match, so she can't be my partner." I let out a tight laugh.

"I can be your partner if you'd like," Drew said. I give him a surprised look. He smirked. "Of course, I don't think you can refuse this offer. No one would."

Actually, since you're an Aberration, I think anyone would. I can't tell him I know that, that would be pretty scary. He just met me and I know his full name and who he is. I'm kind of surprised he didn't ask me about my Match. "Uh okay," I said. "When?"

"Right now," he said. "I know a place where normal pokemon aren't that familiar with."

"Okay," I said again. I pull out my pokemon folder and take the worksheet out. "Okay, I have Eevee. She's a normal pokemon and likes indoor places." I then wrote down all her moves. I handed the worksheet to Drew. "You wanna write your pokemon info?"

"You write it for me," he said. Drew peeked at the worksheet. "Okay, my name is Drew Hayden." He spells his last name out for me. "My pokemon is Roselia."

"Roselia?" I repeated. "She's a grass type, right?"

"Correct," he said. "Roselia likes being at grassy places or places with plants and flowers." He told me all of Roselia's moves and I wrote them at his pace. "Okay, you're good." Drew continued to look at the worksheet. "You have to write the battle? What kind of teacher is this?"

"A bad one," I said, laughing. He laughed, too. The train stopped and he checked outside. "Is it here?"

"No, I think it's the next stop," Drew said. "So, what school do you go to?"

"West High," I said. "I'm in fourth level."

"I go to Corconia Academy," he said. Wow, I even know that. Of course I won't tell him that, though. That would be hell of creepy and he'd probably not want to help me with my assignment anymore. "I'm in fourth level, too, but I'm learning fifth level stuff."

"Are you a smart ass or something?" I exclaimed.

"You can say that," Drew said, smirking. "Do you have family members?"

"Yeah I have my parents and a brother," I said. "My brother's twelve years old. Do you have siblings?"

He shook his head. "Nope, I'm a single child. I want siblings though." I don't say anything; I don't know what to say. I just met him and we're… we're kind of close? The train stops and the doors open. Drew gets up. "Okay, we're here."

Drew picked up my backpack and threw it over his shoulder. "No, you don't have to do that. I can carry it." I stand up.

"You're carrying Eevee," he said. "It's fine. I'm a man."

"Alright," I said, giving in. We climb off the train and the cold wind hits me. I shivered.

"Hold on," Drew said. I stopped and turned around to face him. He set my backpack on the ground and he took off his jacket. How could he do that? It's freezing why would he take it off? He put my backpack over his shoulder again. He set his wooly brown jacket over my shoulder. "Here, put this on. I can hold Eevee while you do that."

I shook my head. "No, Drew! I'm okay, really!"

"Then why'd I see you shiver immediately after we left the train?" Drew asked. I couldn't say anything and he smirked. He held out his hands. "Quit being stubborn." Again, I give in and set Eevee in his arms. I put his jacket on and inhaled his scent. He has a sweet smell of roses. It smelled good. I zipped it up; it was awfully big for me.

What I like about jackets is the Association didn't make a rule for them. You can choose whatever kind of jacket you want. I held out my hands and he set Eevee in them. "Thanks," I said. "I feel warm, but what about you?"

Drew shrugged. "I'm fine. I can live."

"You're cold," I stated.

"I'm not," he said. He started walking and I did, too. "So there's a hill and it has a lot of plants. My Roselia likes it. People usually come here on the weekend, there's not many on the weekdays, though."

"Oh," I said. "Sounds great." I really hope I'm not awkward, because that would just make things weird. To think we just met, Drew's pretty amazing. If it were me, I would make things awkward between me and the person I just met. Drew must be a social person. I am, too, but not with strangers. But Drew didn't seem like a stranger to me since I've known about him for a while.

"We have to walk all the way to that hill?" I exclaimed, pointing at the hill ahead of us. "It looks like its five miles away!"

"It's a ten minute walk," Drew said. "We can just battle here if you want."

I could say yes, but I want to see the hill. If Roselia, an elegant, beautiful pokemon likes it, then it should be pretty amazing. I sighed. "I'll live; we can go to the hill." Plus if we went to the hill, my teacher might be amazed with me. Who knows?

"Do you come here a lot?" I asked as we walked.

"Yeah," he said. "I train Roselia here. Where do you train your Eevee?"

"I…" I started. I frown. "I don't."

Drew frowned. "You don't train your Eevee?"

"Well," I started, looking for a reason. "Eevee hatched from her egg like two years ago!"

"Two years ago," he repeated. I blushed in embarrassment and he laughed. "September, you are some interesting girl."

Yeah, he's calling me different months on purpose. No one ever does that though… well he's a character. "Thank you. I train her in class when I have to bring her to school. Sometimes I bring her to my dad's pokemon training place."

"Oh cool," Drew said.

You know if my teacher asks who this Drew person is; I'd probably have to say he's some guy I met on the train. But that would be even stranger… to do a homework assignment with some person you meet on a train? Well, I knew him. Whatever, I should really stop thinking about this.

I looked up and caught Drew staring at me. He turned back to staring at the path. I laughed. "What?"

"Nothing," he said.

"Is there something on my face?" I asked.

"No, it's nothing," Drew said again.

"I don't believe you," I said.

"It's because you kept changing the expressions on your face," he said, letting out a laugh. It sounded like he's been holding in the laugh. "It was funny!"

I glared. "You are so mean!" I was thinking hard, was my disposition that funny? Wow, that's rude.

I was already a couple feet ahead of me. I stared at his hair color. Green. How could someone have green hair? Somehow it was a mystery to me. Hair dye is expensive… but he does go to a high class academy. Drew turned around. "You walk slowly."

"I'm thinking," I said.

"Thinking about what?" he asked.

"The color of your hair," I said. Then I blushed. Now that was weird. Why would you tell them you're thinking about their hair color? "Umm, sorry, that's weird."

He smirked and waited for me. We were walking side by side again. "No, I understand," Drew said. I sighed, relieved. He probably knows it's because his hair color is rare. "It's just so handsome and attractive, huh?"

I was about to argue but he started going up the hill. Dang it, I'm so bad at climbing up hills. Eevee opened her eyes and looked around, confused. "Eevee, we're going to do the assignment the pokemon teacher assigned today." Eevee said her name and she probably said 'okay.' "I think on the top of this hill is pretty. You'll like it."

Drew turned around. "Are you talking to me?"

"No," I said. "Eevee woke up, I'm talking to her." Drew nodded and continued his walk up the hill. "That's Drew. He has green hair." Eevee lifted her head to look at him and she said her name confusedly. "I met him today. He's nice but arrogant."

"I heard that."

"I don't care," I said.

When we finally reached the hill, I was surprised at the view. There were flowers and a light color of green grass coating the whole place. On the other side of the hill further away there was a sparkling lake. "Wow," I said. "Wow."

He set down my backpack and stretched. "Sorry," I said. "Was it too heavy?"

"No," Drew said, taking a pokeball from his pocket out. "I told you it's not already." He enlarged the red and white ball. "Come on out, Roselia!" a green pokemon holding red and blue roses appeared. She said her name and settled herself on the ground peacefully. "Alright January, ready to battle?"

"Yeah," I said. "Eevee, are you ready?" Eevee hoped out of my arms. "Hold on, I have to record the whole battle, remember?"

"Use your phone to record it," he said. "If you have one."

I took out my phone. "I do. Where should I put it?" he pointed at a nearby rock. I made my phone record and I set it on the rock. "Okay, let's do this. Don't underestimate me, Drew."

"If you say so," Drew said. "You go first."

"Okay," I said. "Eevee use sand attack!"

"Dodge it!"

I shook my head. "Don't let him!" Eevee kicked some sand at the grass type pokemon. "Again!"

"Use leech seed, Roselia!" Drew commanded.

"Dodge then use quick attack!" I yelled. Drew tried to tell Roselia to dodge it, but he was too late. "Good! Now use bite!"

"Magical leaf!" Drew said. Pink petals released from Roselia's roses and stopped Eevee from using bite. Eevee fell back. "Good, use giga drain!"

I took a breath. Shoot. "Dodge it Eevee," I said. "You can do it!" Eevee rolled over and the leaves hit the ground. "Try a leach seed again!"

Eevee evaded the attack and she waited for my next command. I remember Eevee had two other moves Dad taught her. "Last resort!" I said. Drew somehow looked surprise and it was a perfect hit. "Try bite again!"

"Petal dance!" Drew said. "And then use magical leaf once more!" They both hit Eevee directly and she fell back and fainted. "Good job Roselia. Return."

"Eevee!" I yelled, running to her. Drew walked to my phone and turned it off. "Drew, you're mean!"

"You told me not to underestimate you," he said.

"So?" I said. He smirked. "Whatever, thanks for helping me with my homework."

He nodded. "No problem. And your Eevee isn't that bad, she just needs some more training." I nodded and he held out my phone. "Here you go."

"Thanks," I said, taking my phone back. He already stopped the video. My phone started ringing, perfect timing. I answered. It was my mom. "Hey mom, I was battling someone." She asked when I was coming back. "I'll be back in half an hour or so."

"Okay honey," she said. "Come back safely."

"Will do," I said. "Bye, I love you!" we hung up.

Drew shoved his hands in his pocket. "Your phone is cool, can I see it?" I nodded and handed it to him. Now that Eevee fainted, I can call her back without her fighting. She settled in her pokeball and I put the ball in my pocket.

"What are you doing?" I asked, standing up.

He tossed me my phone. "I was adding my contact information. Can I have yours?"

"Umm…" I said. "Okay." I told him my number.

"Wait what's your last name?" Drew asked.

"Maple." He punched in some letters and numbers and he shut his phone off. He dropped it back in his pocket. Drew grabbed my backpack. "Wait, I can take it. Eevee is in her pokeball, so it's fine."

Drew smirked. "You think you can carry it?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's downhill."

"No," he said. "It's fine. I can do it." I had to give in again. I guess Drew is the one who won't listen to orders.

As we walk back, questions intrude my head. If Drew wasn't an Aberration, would I be his Match? Is Drew actually supposed to be my Match? Why did Drew appear as my Match? Does he know that? How is it that I actually got to talk to him? Is fate arranging something to me?

No, the Association wants me to be with Brendan.

But somehow, it doesn't feel right.

_Is Drew supposed to be my Match?_

* * *

**And there you have it; Citra is giving you a mean chapter again. But Drew was in this chapter! A lot! :D Funny how they're close. Drew is just that magical, huh? Now that Brendan is gone for a week, what's going to happen? But sadly, it's only a week. They're not that close.**

**Wow I was working on this for five hours. I don't know if that's a lot or a little time to you guys. I'm happy with this chapter since there's a lot of Drew and it was long. :D my previous chapter was kind of short. Also, I didn't switch scenes a lot!**

**So, I'm waiting for your reviews. I was happy with the amount of reviews with the previous chapter. I was like woah em gee! Oh, vote on my poll if you want and haven't yet.**

**I'll catch you all later!**

**~Citra**


	6. Avoiding Maybe

Heyo wonderful dumplings! So I'm having a mini party in my room because I reached a hundred reviews! Thank you so much! (: so to everyone I'm saying thank you for reviewing!

Umm so I'm going to explain something. I guess I made them 'familiar' with each other because when they first met, they weren't shy. I know they were only ten years old, but I'm assuming it would kind of be the same…ish. You know when they first met Drew still had that arrogance!

You know, I mention the train station a lot. (That's only because it's where May and Drew can meet) But don't worry, there will be different places. Haha.

_**Responses to Reviews…**_

**TO EVERYONE: **thank you for reviewing!

**Lil'MissEya:** omg, thank you so much for reviewing every chapter! You have mt love. LOL. And I know, what's with the attack? (x  
**guest (12/15/12): **She should get it right… haha!  
**Guest (12/11/12): **You think that? Well, you just wait!  
**SpecialxGirl: **Don't worry, there are longer reviews! (: glad to hear your thoughts. LOL I hope Brendan doesn't stay Matched to May but it would be kind of sad if he just died away… haha!  
**shadowkittyxX: **Mr. Mystery… how weird. Well I didn't know what it was either until I read the book… well he committed a Sin but he can still be in the province. Also, I want an Eevee, too! :D  
**LiteBulb: **I know, life is fast. (: who knows? READ!  
**guest (12/10/12): **okay I will update as soon as I can!  
**reppad98: **Aww at least you still read it! :D Thank you, I'm happy you loved it! ^^ I will update as fast as I can!  
**SunshineTails: **It'd be so nice if you did review the previous ones… haha! Aww you're soo nice! I'm glad you loved the oldrivalshipping. (: good luck on your German exams!  
**Sarah's fantasy: **Don't worry, more will come! This whole story is for them! I know they're close already… haha, but Brendan is only gone for a week! You know how fast that is. (8  
**leafeonchick03: **yuppers, isn't it great? (:  
**GoldenGloryQueen: **Thanks, how sweet of you! I will!  
**CierraLuvsPokemon4Eva: **Haha thank yooouuu! You're awesome!  
**Guest (12/9/12): **Yeah I know… but remember in the anime? I thought it would be weird, but they kind of became friends in the anime just like that… actually whenever Ash meets someone they're friends immediately so… o: ! Thanks for pointing it out though!  
**OldRivalShipper:** I used to really suck, but it takes practice (and watching pokemon a lot LOL)! Thanks!  
**Birdie118: **omg there was SO MUCH SNOW we had to delay school by two hours… some schools had to cancel for a snow day. And the next day I was half an hour late for school and hideous traffic. It's pretty, but it's like OMG DRIVE FASTER CARS!  
Oh no but if Drew stole May then May would be in pretty big trouble! Well let's just read on…  
**Pokemonchen: **I'm thinking of staying in May's POV for now. (: they're only allowed to have one pokemon!  
**Enax3: **Haha (: glad you're happy!  
**splitheart1120: **Hmm… reading is the answer for now!  
**rabiya123: **yeah he is here! You're so nice, thank you! I will update soon!

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Mmkay you are all freaking awesome. (;

**Disclaimer: Pokemon no mine.**

* * *

I climbed on the accessible-train and took a seat at that was the same as yesterday. I'm having my hopes up… I'm thinking Drew will come. It's kind of wrong to have my hopes up, though. I set my backpack on the ground next to my legs. I look out the window across from me. The doors close and the train was on its way.

Disappointment. Wow, I was actually waiting for him. Am I alright?

After two stops, it was my turn to get off. I was searching him the whole ride. I stood up and grabbed my backpack and exited the train with some of the other passengers. I glanced back to take one quick look at the train.

I saw a green-haired man.

My eyes widened, I was kind of confused. _Did he not see me?_

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Leaf waved her hands in front of my face. She then clapped her hands. She started poking my face. Then I saw her face closer to mine and she yelled, "MAY MELANIE MAPLE!" It was an ear-piercing scream that can make anyone deaf. People turned to look at us. They sent strange faces.

I blinked. "Yes?"

"'Yes?'" she repeated. "Are you okay? You've been spacing out _all day_! You also didn't respond to me when I called your name and waved my hands in your face and—"

"Okay, sorry," I said, cutting her off. "Geez! People can be out of it sometimes."

"I know," Leaf said. She took a seat at the chair in front of my desk. "But it's unusual for you to be. Are you okay? What happened?"

It's a good thing Gary Oak didn't take away Leaf's caring side. I sighed and rested my chin on my hands. "No, it's nothing. I'm thinking." Her face clearly read 'about what?' and was waiting for me to continue. I sighed again. "It's nothing."

"Tell me," she said, throwing me a death glare. I shook my head and she yelled the two words out again. I shook my head again. We continued it for a good five minutes until I felt extremely dizzy. "Whatever, I don't care anymore."

"Good," I said. She glared at me and I stuck my tongue out. "You get mad easily, huh?"

Leaf rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said again. "Let's hang out! I'm sorry Gary's been stealing me away…"

"I'm not spacing out or sounding uh, mean because of that," I said, laughing. "There's just something I've been thinking about."

I know she wants to know, but I don't want to tell people about what happened. The thing with the error of the Matching screen isn't what's bothering me. It's more why Drew didn't talk to me on the train? I mean, there's a possibility he might've not seen me. This is just a little thing… why am I thinking so hard about this?

"Want to go eat somewhere?" Leaf asked. School already ended. "We can go to West Café again."

"Sorry, I have to do something today," I said. "Thanks though."

"You're lame," she said, disappointed. I laughed. "When do you wanna hang out then? Dude, we haven't been together lately."

I thought for a moment. "I guess we've been busy with all the Matching crap. We can go eat out on Sunday then to something afterwards."

"Yeah sounds good," Leaf said. "Since you rejected my offer of going out today, I need to run to my bus stop. Later!" I said goodbye to her and Leaf grabbed her stuff and ran out the door. Leaf likes the bus more than the train, it's just her preference. Actually I think it's because there's no train station that's close to her house.

I also decided to take my leave. I bumped into Brendan. "Brendan?" I said. "Wait, weren't you going to Mr. Pyre?"

"What?" he said. "I'm not going immediately! I'm going next Tuesday. I'm psyched; I can't wait!"

"You're so lucky," I said.

Brendan grinned. "I know I am. Hey, we have to read the guidelines together about the Matching stuff. I'm guessing you didn't read them." I didn't say anything but turned my head. He laughed and I pouted. "See? But not tonight, there's a meeting about the trip."

"When is it?" I asked.

He checked his watch. "In like twenty four minutes?"

"I should let you go then," I said. "I hope you don't die during the meeting." He knows I hate meetings. I can't help it, they're so boring. Anyone could die. You can't talk or do anything!

"Don't worry I won't," Brendan said. He smirked. "_Honey_."

"What?" I exclaimed. He laughed and ran away. I wasn't going to chase him, and I bet he knew I wasn't going to. If I did then I'd have to walk all the way back here since I'm not attending the meeting. I'm lazy, I know.

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I heard Mom yell… or scream or something. "What happened?" I asked her. There was a sick and disgusting scent in the kitchen. Then I asked, "What smells?" Seriously, the _whole _kitchen stunk. My mom gestured me to look in the container in her hands.

Inside was parmesan cheese. No, wrong. Inside was moldy, furry, green with white polka doted cheese. "Shut that!" I ordered. Mom shut it immediately. I will never look at cheese the same way again. That was disgusting. "Toss that."

"I need parmesan cheese," Mom said after she threw it in the garbage. I'm so happy there's a lid for the garbage… "We have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight." Oh. Max won't eat spaghetti unless he has three huge spoonful of parmesan cheese. I see why Mom is worried. I saw Mom's cut up tomatoes and spaghetti being boiled on the stove. I sighed.

"I can run to the store," I said. "It'll take like half an hour, though."

Mom smiled gratefully. She clasped her hands together. "Oh honey, that would be wonderful. I'll even make some fudge filled brownies in my extra time."

I grinned. "No Mom, _that _would be wonderful."

I was out the door, on my way to the nearest food market. You know, I wish we can run on the streets because there's like no people out right now. I won't run. It's still risky, an Agent can be anywhere. Instead, I jogged. Hopefully jogging is fine. I ran there for about eight minutes. Hmm, this was a pretty good workout for me. I never exercise; it's such a bother.

I reached the store and greeted some employee who greeted me. I grabbed a nearby cart and dumped some food in. Crackers and chocolate bites... we're out so why not buy them? I also grabbed some other food while I was on my way to the back of the store where the cheese was.

I took the parmesan cheese and dropped it in my cart. I made my way to the cashier…

…and my eye caught green hair.

"Drew!" I called out. The cashier man put his purchased items in a plastic bag and handed it to him. Drew took the bag and left the store. I frowned; did he not hear me again? I took the requested and cheese and bought that only. I paid and took the plastic bag the cashier man handed me. "Thank you," I said.

I ran out the door and looked around. He wasn't in sight. Drew couldn't have gone that far in a minute. I looked around again and I swore I saw green hair. I walked towards that direction, and luckily it was the same direction as my house. As I said, I hate doing extra exercise.

It was him! I ran to him and grabbed his hand. "Drew," I said. I caught my breath for a few seconds. He didn't say and I looked up at him. Why's he so quiet?

"Hi," Drew said. "Do you need something?"

Suddenly I felt embarrassed. I really didn't need anything from him. Why was I panicking and freaking out in the first place? I felt so stupid. "Sorry," I said, letting go of his hand. "I just saw you this morning and now, and it's like you didn't even notice me there."

Drew didn't say anything. I somehow thought that he was going to turn around and keep walking. No way was he going to do that. Funny we only met like yesterday. "Sorry," he also said. Why was he apologizing? I had a puzzled expression. "I was avoiding you."

I widened my eyes. What? Questions attacked my head. Am I annoying? Did his interest in me fade away? Did he even have any to begin with? Did I do something wrong? Did he only hang out with me in the first place just to help me with my assignment? Besides, why am I so bothered by it? It's not like this will kill me… right?

Then Drew laughed. "What?" I said.

"Your face," he said between laughs. "That's what." I blinked. Drew laughs at silly things… like my face? Wait my face isn't silly. It was probably the face I made. I noticed his face dimmed and he sighed. "I was avoiding you because I was told to."

"Why?" I asked immediately. "By who?" The Agents? The Agents who knows what happened about my test? They don't want—

"My mother," Drew said, cutting my thoughts. "She found out I was with you. She doesn't want me to get close to others, or else Agents will be suspicious of me… and you."

I don't get it. It can't be because of him being an Aberration. It also can't be because of my stupid test glitch. I faked a surprise face. I had to fake it; he doesn't know that I already know he's an Aberration. "Why would people be suspicious?" I asked. "That's weird. What did we do wrong? Oh that's right, nothing."

"But _I _did," Drew said. "I'm an Aberration."

No surprise there, but I have to act as if it was. "What?" I said quietly. Although I was surprised he told me so openly. We only met yesterday and that's really something you don't want others to know about.

Drew gave me a blank look. He sighed again and shoved his hands in his pockets. "See?" Drew said. "You probably don't want to get close to me anymore."

"No," I said. "Not true."

Drew looked surprised. I kind of was, too. "May, its fine," Drew said. "Anyways, we should start heading back now. It's almost curfew."

"Okay," I said, defeated and disappointed. "But next time we meet, no avoiding. I don't care if you're an Aberration."

"…is a next time," he said, too quiet for me to hear.

"What?" I said. "I didn't catch that."

Drew smirked. "No, it's nothing. February, why are you so interested in me?" He flipped his hair.

Great, his arrogance is back. At least he's back to himself. "Shut up," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'm going now, Drew." I started to make my way home but before that I yelled to him, "Remember what I said Drew!"

Drew simply waved his hand and kept walking.

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Mom was worried since I returned later than she expected. Dinner was waiting for me, hot and steamy. I saw the brownies on the counter. "Oh no you don't, Melanie," Mom said. She usually used my middle name or full name to imply I'm being, well, naughty. Or she does that when I'm just being plain bad and stupid. "Go wash your hands. And give me the cheese so Max can start dinner."

"Geez May what took you so long?" Max asked. He had a meatball on a fork and was chomping it down. "Don't tell me you saw Brendan and you two decided to go make out in the dark. How daring."

"Max," my mom said sternly, giving him the look. Max didn't say anything after that. Instead of giving my mom the parmesan cheese, I threw it at Max and it hit his head perfectly. "May," Mom said, also giving me the look.

I laughed. Max's reaction was so funny, his head like flung back. "Don't worry Mom," I said. "It weighs like nothing."

"Yeah don't worry Mom," Max said. "I'm only going to have a concussion." My mom gasped. "Kidding, it didn't hurt that much." he bent down to pick up the clear container.

I came back from the kitchen with clean, washed hands. "I'm eating now! Thank you for the food!"

Dad took a huge bite from his spaghetti and meatballs. "Caroline, this is delicious. Where'd you get the recipe?"

Mom smiled. "Why thank you Norman. My grandmother taught me it. She taught me most of the recipes you like." My dad didn't say anything but he continued to stuff food in his mouth.

After dinner, I saw Eevee jumping up, trying to get something on my dresser. "What, Eevee?" I said. I picked up my comb. "This?" she shook her head. I picked up her toy. "This?" Eevee shook her head again. My eye caught a large, shiny, blue stone. "This?" Eevee nodded. "Um, no Eevee, I don't know what this is. Hold on."

I went down stairs and saw my dad flipping through channels. I stood in front of him. "Darling, let me watch TV."

"Wait," I said. "What's this?" I waved the rock in front of his face.

"Oh," he said. "That's an ice rock. My coworker gave it to me, but I have no need for it. You can evolve Eevee using that."

"Dad, I don't want to evolve Eevee," I said. Actually, I just don't want to fill out papers.

Dad raised his eyebrow. "But doesn't Eevee want to be evolved?" I sighed loudly and left him to the TV and went back to my room.

I crouched down to Eevee's level. "Eevee," I said. "Do you want to evolve?" Eevee nodded. "You want to evolve and no longer be an Eevee?" Eevee yelled her name, but I didn't know what she said. But I could tell she was determined to evolve… she wanted to get stronger.

"Okay," I said. "Not yet though, alright? Give me some more time." I set the blue rock somewhere Eevee could never reach. More time to what? This what Eevee wants. She wants to evolve to become something else… it's what she wants to be.

But it's not like I understand. The Association chooses what I become. I have no choices. And Eevee does?

That's weird. Pokemon don't get rules and we humans do? How come Pokemon don't?

Maybe... maybe…

_Maybe the Association isn't always right._

* * *

**Not as long… but you got some drama. There you go!**

**Hey people I'm begging you to review the chapters you haven't reviewed yet! Just kidding not begging… but I love it if you did review. (:**

**Okay so there's more information with the Association shit to come out soon! Yes it is shit in my opinion, so May is going to do something about it!**

**Also, if you liked LeafxGreenx3's story _Remember the Past_, I would like to ask you to read my inspired story _Your Love_! There's only one chapter, but there's more to come. And if you didn't vote on my poll, go visit that if you want... haha. (:**

**REVIEW! Tell me what you think is going to happen. **

**~Citra**


	7. Can't Tell

Chiming bells, guess what? I've returned with a (late) update.

Everyone wants Brendan to be gone, haha. Well, soon he'll be growing mushrooms in the corner crying. Just kidding. I can see that happening though!

_**Responses to Reviews…**_

**Longleaf: **I will update since you're super nice! (: And I totally agree with you!  
**LeafxGreenx3: **Aw it's fine! Ehe, I thought you haven't even read it yet. (x Everyone is watching/reading Fairy Tale and SAO! But hey, at least you reviewed 8D Aberrations committed a crime, but the crime wasn't too bad so they can stay in the Association. Complicated, right? More oldrivalshipping is to come. (:  
**contestshipergrl: **Thank you! More contestshipping is coming and I shall update.  
**izaSECRETladii: **I try to make May a little more mature than she is. It's a little hard in her point of view. If I make her all bubbly and happy and dense she'll sound like an idiot, haha. And I know a lot of cliffhangers and short scenes. (: thanks for critiquing!  
**reppad98: **They shall meet soon, right? (x thank you for reviewing!  
**rabiya123: **Thank you! I'm so glad you love it.  
**Minichrome: **Aw really? Thanks, I'm so glad it's interesting.  
**Aileentang: **Alright. So Aberrations committed a crime, but the Agents judged it was too bad so they could stay in the Association. So the thing they did wrong was a Sin, which is a crime. Your last question shall be answered in the story! It's pretty much the point of this story… c:  
**contestshipper: **Thank you, and more contestshipping is a YES! Thanks!  
**LiteBulb: **Yes, she finally notices. Aha.  
**leafeonchick03: **Will do so!  
**SunshineTails: **Thanks for reviewing the past chapters. (: and I love blueberry muffins, too! I love reading your reviews. And YES Association shit. I'm so glad you liked it, and thanks for checking out Your Love!  
**SpecialxGirl: **Sounds like a plan. May and Drew should just fly to Narnia and the Agents shall never ever find them. Just kidding, but you're so right, that should happen. If only!  
**Enax3: **How could Drew avoid her? That's a crime! I well update with some love! LOL.  
**shadowkittyxX: **That's the proof of the contestshipping bond, right? haha… and yes Leaf and Gary cannot be forgotten or Gary will throw a fit, right? Who knows? Thank you!  
**XSilverChanX: **LOL you sound so scary, that would make any man run away if they read that. Ahaha. You're so funny. We will know what Drew did wrong!  
**Birdie118: **Pretty much… hehe. I like your prediction! (: I would be pretty scared of the punishment the Agents gave May… :o thank you! I will update!  
**CRITICly Anonymous: **Thank you so much! I'm so glad it wasn't horribly written. And screw the awkward sentences I wrote. At least I got away with it though. Again, thank you so much!  
**Pokemonchen: **inference, hypothesis, conclusion, prediction, statement… whatever who cares LOL. It does look like pokemon get more freedom. I DON'T KNOW… I don't know how to evolve Glaceon and Leafeon. ): I will update, and you're welcome!  
**spliteheart1120: **Mhm, you're right! (:  
**CierraLuvsPokemon4Eva: **Yeah no one knows, huh? Thanks!  
**Apheleia: **#stupiderrorsinchapteronesuck s. Haha. Thanks for helping! (: I've never read The Giver. And the Association is their world. It's not… 'Earth' I guess.

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So many thanking. If I didn't say thank you, I'M THANKING YOU NOW. THANK YOU SO MUCH. And my eyes are blinded by smiling faces and thanking.

Sorry for the late update, writer's block got to me. Things happen.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas 0r Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year! Wanna know what's next? School…

**Disclaimer: Pokemon doesn't belong to me.**

* * *

"I want you to have this," Drew said. He gave me a hair barrette. "It was my aunt's which was passed down to his relatives. She never had kids so she couldn't pass it down and gave it to me. I'm a guy so I have no use for it."

"I can't," I said, pushing his hand away. "I already have an artifact." Drew asked what it was. I took out a golden pocket watch. "My grandfather gave it to me. It's old. He couldn't give it to my dad since he already had an artifact."

Drew examined the pocket watch in my hands. I let him hold it. It did have amazing details, so you would want to look closely at it. I get that. He gave the watch back and I put it back in my pocket. "Oh well, just take it. I'm giving it to you, so it's a present."

"But it's _still _an artifact," I said. "Give it to a friend who doesn't have an artifact."

"I'm not friends with a lot of women," Drew said. "Just keep it a secret. Give it to Eevee."

"But Eevee still belongs to me so it'll be counted as mine." Drew clipped the red ribbon barrette in my hair and patted it gently. "Hey!"

He smirked. "It looks good on you. Keep it, November."

I rolled my eyes at the nickname. I have to admit I _was _happy he said the artifact looked good on me. My face was warm. But that was a compliment for the barrette against my hair… why am I so negative sometimes?

"Alright," I said, defeated. Drew and I were at the pretty place where I battled his Roselia. It was a Saturday.

"Oh right," Drew said. "There's this hiking class I was offered to join. Its points for your level, like bonus points. It'll raise your grade and its fun. It isn't that hard. Want to join with me?"

"When is it?" I asked.

"Wednesdays and Thursdays at five to six thirty," he said. Drew went in his bag and pulled out two sheets of paper. "Here, this one is the registration sheet and the other one is information. It's double-sided. The class is also about partnership, so we can be partners."

Now that makes me want to join the class. I can spend an hour and a half with Drew. To top it off, it can be for school, so mom and dad will approve. "Thanks," I said. I folded them and pushed them in my bag. "Drew, I challenge you to a battle."

He smirked. "Alright."

"But I want to ask you something," I said. I took out an ice rock, the one that Dad told me to use to evolve Eevee. "Should I evolve my Eevee?"

"Is that an ice rock?" Drew asked. I nodded. "If you want to and Eevee does, too, then sure." I nodded again. I stared at the baby blue rock. I'll no longer have an Eevee but a Glaceon. Eevee can choose if she wants to be another evolution, too.

_Eevee can choose._

Choose. That word… was a word I never got to encounter. Why is that? "May?" Drew said. "You don't have to evolve Eevee. She can stay as is, you know."

"Why do pokemon get to choose?" I exclaimed.

"What?"

I gasped. "Sorry. No, ignore that. I was thinking out loud." I forced a smile, but it didn't convince him at all. "I guess I'll—"

"_Steve, I heard voices this way."_

"_Let's check it out. It's rare for people to be here—that's suspicious."_

Drew looked at the direction the voices came from. "In that bush," Drew ordered in a hushed voice. He pushed me into the larger bushes and joined me. Why are we hiding?

I took a tiny peek through the bushes and saw Agents in orange suits. They marched around. My heart shook as they came closer to us.

Drew wrapped one of his arms around me to assure me everything was fine. But still, _why are we hiding? _

"_No one's here."_

"_Adam, you're always hearing things. Next time don't say anything if you're not sure."_

"_I _was _sure though!" _The two Agents left, and a minute or two later, Drew led me out of the bush.

"Why were we hiding?" I asked.

Drew shrugged. "I don't know. I did that unconsciously." Liar. It was probably because you're an Aberration, so they'd ask you questions. "Well, that's partly right."

"Did I say that out loud?" I asked.

He nodded. "You're so weird. But actually, you are right. Sometimes they'd ask for our name and ID, then they'd find out I'm an Aberration. They'd think you're doing something wrong and it's such a bother to deal with."

That may be why Drew's mom didn't allow Drew to see me. Now I understand. "Agents are nosy sometimes," I mumbled.

"Shh," Drew said, smirking. "They'd kill you if they heard you." I laughed. "June, watch out there's a big rock over there—" Too late. I tripped on the rock and I crashed into Drew, causing both of us to fall. My face was in his chest and my body between his legs.

I blushed. "Oh gosh I'm so, so, so sorry." I stood up and brushed the dirt off my clothes. I held my hand out and he took it. But instead of helping himself up, he pulled me back down. "Hey!"

Drew was startled by his actions. I could tell because he pushed me away gently and stood up. "Sorry. I guess I'm too strong for your strength." He was covering himself with his arrogance. I didn't respond to what he said. "So are you going to evolve your Eevee?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you helped me make my choice. Because Eevee wants to evolve, she should. It's nice to have choices…"

…_if only I could experience it._

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

If you don't know, my grandfather is seventy-nine years old. His birthday is next week on a Sunday.

This means that next Sunday is the last day I will see him.

Grandfather used to be an Agent, but he retired when he was sixty. How could he be an Agent? I can't imagine it. I don't remember since I was young when Grandfather was still working. "I'm home," I said, opening the door.

"Welcome home Sis," Max said. "The nursing home brought Grandpa here."

"I know," I said. "Mom told me yesterday. But I thought he was coming at seven." It's six right now.

"Who cares?" Max said. "Let's go see him. Mom's getting some ice cream for him." Grandfather loves ice cream. He loves sweets in general. I followed Max to the guest room but before we opened the door, we decided to listen what Dad and Grandfather were discussing.

"_Norman, you still have the DNA sample I gave you, right?"_

The DNA sample is a sample of a DNA obviously. You get it when your life has a month left. I haven't learned that much about it, but I think it can bring him back to life later on or something for a limited period of time. It's mysterious; I don't know how the Association does it. You have to take care of the sample very carefully.

"_Yeah I have it Dad. Do you need it?"_

"_No, I want you to destroy it."_

My eyes widened and Max's jaw dropped. Max opened the door and Dad and Grandfather turned around to look at us, shocked.

Max and I read the mood. We weren't supposed to overhear that. I glanced at Max and he just nodded. We agreed to say that we didn't know. "Hey Grandpa!" Max exclaimed, running over to him. "I was still out with my friends when you got here."

"I know," Grandfather said, hugging Max. "And hello May, come in."

I walked in and Dad started to walk out. Before he did, he stopped me. "May, did you hear anything?"

"Hear what?" I asked. A flawless lie.

Dad shook his head. "No, nothing." Dad turned took face Grandfather. "Dad, I'll talk to you later."

Grandfather nodded. "Grandpa, what do you want at your Final Banquet?" Max asked. The Final Banquet is the last day you're alive, so your eightieth birthday. If your death was sudden, then you don't get one. Max tried to stay positive about it. We all did. "We should play Halma."

"Yes, we should," Grandfather said. "It's been a while since I've played. If I remember last time, I couldn't stand a chance against you."

Max grinned. "We should just play right now. I'll go find it." Max dashed out of the room. Geez, where does he _get _that energy? Didn't he just play baseball?

"May, come here," Grandfather said. He patted a nearby chair. I took a seat. "You look like you have to say something."

"How do you know?" I asked. Well, he's Grandfather. He just smiled. "Yeah, I do. A lot of things, actually."

"I'm all ears for you, May," he said.

I glanced at the door to make sure no one was there. I could hear Max yelling for Mom to help him find the board game. "Actually, when I had my Match Test the other day, you know how it's supposed to show your Match's picture?" Grandfather nodded. "It didn't show Brendan's picture. It showed someone else's."

He frowned. "How strange."

"Would you happen to know why?" I asked.

"No," Grandfather said. "When I was an Agent that never happened. I also don't know about the YMTD (Your Match Test Department), I was never in that branch. Did the other Agents do something about it?"

"Well they told me stuff," I said. "They told me I'm still Matched to Brendan."

"Do you know the person in the photo you accidentally saw?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Did you tell him?"

I shook my head. "I didn't tell anyone. I'm scared." I think Grandfather could tell I am interested in Drew. Well, not _love_, but just interested. "Sorry, this isn't good, is it?"

"No, its fine," he said.

Max dashed in. "I found it, Grandpa! Let's play."

"I'll let you two play now," I said. "I'll go help Mom. Have fun."

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

The following day, a Wednesday, Leaf offered to hang out. "Don't tell me you're busy again," Leaf exclaimed. "You never hang out with me."

"Wait what time is it?" I asked.

"Three forty-five," Leaf said.

"Then I can go hang out with you," I said. "I have a hiking class at five, so I'll probably have to go in an hour."

We walked to a bus station and Leaf frowned. "Hiking?" she said, surprised. "You're taking a hiking class? That's… different."

"I know," I said. "I think this is a good way for me to stay in shape. You know I've been eating a lot lately."

Leaf nodded. "Yeah, I'm worried you're eating too much. Maybe in some time you'll have to get a new size of clothes?" I hit her. "Sheesh, I was kidding! You're not fat; don't worry. Okay Gary brought me to this ice cream parlor and it's _so _good. We can just walk there. Seriously, it's so good. Best thing ever."

I laughed. "How many places did he bring you to?" I followed Leaf.

"A lot of places," Leaf said. "They were mostly food and sports. As expected."

"You've really fallen for him…" I said.

Leaf ignored me. "See? We're here. Wasn't that fast?" She dragged me over to all the flavors on display. "I like the mint with raspberry swirl. I might get chocolate fudge with a strawberry touch."

"I want to try mint and raspberry swirl," I said. I checked the prices. "Wow, it's cheap!"

Leaf grinned. "Isn't it?" We took our orders and took a seat. "Do you what Gary ordered? Peach ice cream, peppermint and root beer ice cream all together. Doesn't that sound gross?"

"Doesn't sound like a good combination," I said. "Did he like it?"

"First he ate them all together and he looked like he wanted to puke," Leaf said in an amused tone. I laughed. "So then he ate them separately but he didn't finish the root beer ice cream. That I understand."

"_Number five!"_

"Oh that's us," Leaf said. "Let's get our ice cream!" We stood up and got our ice cream. "Here, this one's yours. Kay, let's sit down again."

I stirred the ice cream a little with my spoon once we took our seat. "So how's your Match? Is everything good?" Then I smirked. "Actually, I can tell everything's good because you two are looking more and more romantic."

Leaf blushed. "Um yeah. We go on dates almost all the time. We go to school together and go home together."

"You're happy," I said. She nodded. "And who didn't like their Match?"

"Shut up," Leaf said. "I didn't like players. Now that he's Matched with me, he doesn't lay his hands or eyes on other girl's."

"You like that," I said, stating another fact.

"I do," Leaf said. Leaf doesn't like talking about herself, and I know that she wanted to change the subject. She did. "So how are you and Brendan? Did you progress from friends to lovers yet?"

I shook my head. "No. It's too weird. But I met—" _I met someone by accident and now we're friends. I'm thinking he's supposed to be my Match but who knows? He's an Aberration so we can't be Matched, but we're friends and all. We've gotten really close. I feel like this is all a date with destiny but really it's all just a big fat Sin._

I can't tell Leaf that.

* * *

**YOU CAN TELL HER SOON IT'S OKAY MAY… May your name rhymes with too much stuff, you know?**

**So yeah, there's the fantastic, long awaited update. Don't die and stay with me people. My heart will break and I will break down to tears.**

**No. That won't happen. **

**May's Grandfather is going to pass away soon. Isn't that sad? And uh oh, Grandfather wants to destroy the DNA sample that can be used to bring him back to life…**

**To be honest, I have no idea how they do that. Sigh… just wait though. It's not that important right now.**

**Drop a review on your way out, kay? **_**Do not forget. **_**Vote on my poll, too. And I have new future stories up on my profile that I am **_**psyched **_**about. The poll will be up sometime soon.**

**Tata for now. Review!**

**~Citra**


	8. Right's Wrong

Hey white angel wings, long time no update! Guess what I'm listening to? _Wings _by Daesung from BIG BANG! I love them. G-Dragon and Daesung are my favorites. Well they're all wonderful.

_**Responses to Reviews…**_

**hi hi: **Aww thank you! ^^ I shall keep going (: **  
Guest (1/11/13): ** I will add more oldrivalshipping, but just so you know contestshipping _is _the main shipping. I like oldrivalshipping, but it's usually a side shipping. ^^  
**DarkTyphlosion: **Aww thank you. (: I will!  
**Guest (1/03/13): **Yeah the DNA sample thing is confusing. Don't worry (: and thanks!  
**Effusive: **oh hey… yeah she's such a cutie.  
**sweetiee: **They all showed up, I just had to moderate and approve them. Thanks for making sure I saw your review! (: glad you liked it.  
**Enax3: **Yeah it's sad ): don't cry! And contestshipping is on its way.  
**SpecialxGirl: **Nope you spelled it correctly. (: And YES CONTESTSHIPPING ALL THE WAY!  
**reppad98: **And I'm updating again? (: it's so sad how he's going to die soon… yes so many questions that are soon to be answered! It's late, but happy new year! (:  
**a cup of insanity: **ooh it's good that you're stalking/liking this fiction! Brendan went off to some trip. HAHA I got rid of him for a while… okay see you soon!  
**XWhiteChanX: **I KNOW RIGHT; they should get a life. They should have them agree or not to their Match. But luckily they brought Gary and Leaf together, hmm? Or else Leaf would be hating him forever! (:  
**shadowkittyxX: ** Psh he's probably glaring me. Haha, it's good it was so adorable. There are more to come. May such an airhead. And I KNOW it's so sad. I can just imagine Leaf throwing crap at May yelling, "Why didn't you tell me?" haha. (x  
**leafeonchick03: **! Love that review.  
**splitheart1120: **I know. ): it's so sad… but she'll find a way out.  
**guest (1/01/13): **Okay great! Thank you sooo much!  
**Birdie118: **YES tell her that. I wish we could. I also which you can yell, "Can't you see Drew likes you?" to her. I wonder how they force em to die soon… actually I don't even want to know LOL. And yes they're going to show the Association and Agents who's wrong this time. (8  
**Madame Kasumi: **I know, it is stupid. But it's in the book. I wonder if it'll ever be banned (the law). Aw why you don't like Glaceon? And thank you SO MUCH, your last sentence means so much to me.  
**Pokemonchen: **Sorry ): it was that depressing in the book, too, you know. Don't cry doe. ): Ahah, I don't really know how to evolve Eevee. . #lifeissohard. And thank you so much for voting on my poll! (:  
**SunshineTails: **Haha, thanks! And I'm so glad the chapter gave you that affect. But he's probably mad I didn't include him… (x aww I hate grammar mistakes, but thanks for pointing that out. (:  
**CierraLuvsPokemon4Eva: **OMG are you serious? Oh my gosh that's so cool! But now you're going to know what's going to happen… but I'll have personal twists. You're probably done with the book by now, huh? But wasn't it just amazing?  
**sexxxaaaaayyyyyyyyy af: **I DON'T KNOW, WHERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER? LOL, you are hilarious, I loved reading your reviews. Thank you so much for reviewing every chapter! And I know, she totally is so in love with Drew. I don't think she is YET though. Aha (:  
**Chidori Minami: **Long time no see! AND YES they're so romantic… but Gary's ice cream tastes really aren't the best huh?  
**xXKataliaXx: **Haha really? (: thank yooouu! IKR I don't even know, probably some science method the evil Agents created. And I shall update soon, thank you for reviewing!

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

And of course, I'm now thank you all for reviewing. SO THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!

Thanks for voting on my poll (for the ones who did ^^)!

Let's get rollinggggggggggggg.

**Disclaimer: Pokemon isn't mine. (8 and neither is Ally Condie's terrific idea.**

* * *

Leaf walked in the classroom and slammed the door behind her. She sat in her seat which was next to mine. She slumped down. "What?" I said. "What's wrong with you?"

"No, that's not the question," Leaf mumbled. Leaf looked _extremely _angry. "What's wrong with Gary? I saw him with a bunch of girls where is locker is. Now I couldn't get to my locker and I don't have my stuff. May, can I share the textbook with you today?"

"Sure," I said. "But it's not like Gary could be with any of those girls you know. He's Matched with you."

"But what if his kindness towards me is just an act?" Leaf asked. "Because now that I think about it, all the girls he played around with were the complete opposite of me—" Right after she said that, Gary ran in and he ran right to Leaf. He wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"You annoying women!" Gary yelled once a group of girls appeared. "Can't you see I'm Matched? Just because you're not doesn't mean I'll still play around with you. Besides, I love my Match so I won't even give you a second of my time."

A blonde girl scrunched her nose. "_She's _your Match? I think it should be me."

"Shut your fucking mouth, you whore," Gary yelled. He turned Leaf's head and kissed her passionately. I looked as surprised as Leaf. They kissed for more than two minutes and he finally let go. "Okay, who has any complaints or questions?"

"Can you kiss me once?" the same girl said. "Then I'll give up." She was drooling.

"Hell no!" Gary yelled. "Get outta here!"

They all scrambled off and Leaf sat there, dumbfounded. "Geez Gary," I said. "You were completely different when I first met you. Where'd that prince figure go?"

He still looked pissed. "I couldn't act like that any longer around those girls."

I snickered. "Leaf, I don't think you should be feeling insecure anymore…"

"Shut up May!" Leaf yelled. Her face was completely red.

"Leafy you're so adorable," Gary said. Leaf turned to argue with him but he took that change to kiss her again. "I should get to my classroom. I wish we were in the same class." He sighed. Gary kissed her forehead. "I love you Leaf, see you later."

And with that, he left.

"Wow when did you to get that close?" I asked.

"We had our first kiss a few days ago," Leaf mumbled. "The one just now was our second one…"

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed. "It looked like you guys kissed a million times already—" Leaf covered my mouth with her hands.

"Shut up," she said between clenched teeth.

I pushed her away and took a deep breath. "Whatever. You should be happy."

"You have no idea," Leaf said.

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

Mom brought me a dress and I frowned. "What's this for?" I asked her.

"Didn't Leaf tell you?" Mom said. "There's a party tonight. It's people from this city and the one next to ours. It's for the people who got Matched. Just a, you know, 'congratulations' party."

I groaned. "Mom, Brendan isn't even here."

"No he's here," Mom said. "He and Elaina are down in the kitchen. Norman and Bradley are out in the car." Elaina is Brendan's mom. She's pretty, nice and funny. Elaina is best friends with my mom. And Bradley is Professor Birch.

"Wait, so he was here this whole time?" I asked. "I thought he had already left."

"The trip is tomorrow," Mom said. She sighed. "Honey, you have to catch up with these things! Did Leaf tell you?" I shook my head from side to side. "Did you check your phone?"

"I don't know where my phone is," I said.

"Bingo," Mom said. "And it's there on your dresser." She pointed at it. "You should charge it. Now go change into the dress and make yourself look presentable. Be ready in fifteen minutes." Mom set the dress on the bed and left my room.

I sighed and looked at Eevee. "Eevee, wanna come? I can put some ribbons on you." She quivered. She doesn't like it when I dress her up. I find it funny (because it doesn't suit her that well).

I slipped the dress on and looked in the mirror. Most formal-clothes don't look good on me, but this one suited me well. It was red. I always look good in red. Funny because it's my favorite color. I put on some makeup and put my hair in a bun. I clipped the red ribbon Drew gave me next to the bun.

"_It looks good on you. Keep it, November."_

I blinked.

This is not the time to be thinking of Drew.

Eevee sat on my food and rubbed her cheek against my leg. I laughed. "Eevee! That tickles!" I lifted her up and set her on my bed. I combed her hair. She loves running around so it always ended up extremely messy.

"_May! Get down here right now! It's been twenty minutes."_

"Gotta go Eevee," I said. I kissed her forehead. "I'll see you later!" I took my phone and dropped it into a gold clutch. But after I did that, it started buzzing a million times. As I walked down the stairs I checked my phone. They were all from Leaf.

_May! Party: Tuesday night at seven o clock. It's at Spring Oak Park. Your mom already knows._

_May, did you get my text?_

_Reply, gosh!_

There were so many and I didn't even reply. I checked all the unread messages from Leaf so I could delete them.

"Well you look amazing," Brendan said. "I love that material." He touched the skirt part of the dress and I blushed and backed up. "Woah, you're suddenly—"

"Shut up," I said. He laughed. "You're not going to wear a tie?"

"I am," Brendan said. He pulled out a red tie that was the same shade as my dress. He held it out to me. "You know I don't know how to put it on. So you do it for me."

My dad taught me how to tie ties because Max was never able to do it. I sighed and took it. I wrapped it around his neck underneath his collar. "Geez, couldn't you have asked Elaina? She was with you. Plus I've tied your ties a million times already; why can't you learn how to do it by now?"

Brendan smiled. "Maybe I like it when you do it for me."

"Caroline, look!" I heard Elaina squeal. "May's putting on Brendan's tie again. They're so cute."

"They're such an adorable couple," my mom said.

I blushed and Brendan just laughed again. "There, done," I said. "I'm going to help Max now."

"Max isn't coming," Mom said. "He's staying with Grandpa. Max doesn't want to come." Okay seriously, people have to fill me in on these things. I pretty much have _no idea _what's going on… but luckily Brendan is here to guide me around. As always, he's always on the program. Unlike me.

"Everyone to the car!" Dad said.

_Time to party._

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

I walked in and saw so many people out in the backyard. Dancing, eating, chatting, laughing, playing, fighting, fooling around… looks like we arrived a little late. But what does it matter?

"Hey there's a pool!" I exclaimed. I love pools. It's rare for me to see one, I usually have to go to the beach, or I have to wait till mom or dad have a ticket to go. Plus the pools are really far from where I live. They're in the southern side of our province. "Wait. I don't have a swimsuit."

Mom patted my shoulder. "Honey, I brought one. But you can't swim until after the dancing and congratulating part of today's event."

I pouted. "Aww."

"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you," Mom said. I pout stayed put until my dad gave me a look.

"May, your lip looks awfully fat," he said. "What did you put on it?"

"Dad!" I said. He laughed.

"If it isn't the Maple family." My mom, dad and I turned to where the voice came from. It was Iris Kenya; the owner of the mansion the party took place. Her daughter, Rose, got Matched at the same banquet as mine. They're a really nice family. "But where's Max? Rose was looking forward to see him."

"He's at home studying," Dad said. That was a lie; he didn't want to come.

Iris smiled. "What a wonderful boy. He refuses to come to a party to study. His grades must be excellent."

Dad nodded. "They are. He's such a dependent boy." I knew Dad was thinking unlike me. I rely on him too much. I like it, though.

"Hey May," Brendan said, nudging me. "Let's go inside. They're playing Dance."

"Ooh," I said. "Mom, I'm going inside with Brendan!" Dance is a video game; you use the controller to dance along. Leaf has the game; her mom loves to play it.

I walked in with Brendan and bumped into someone. I gasped. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," I said.

"It's fine," he said.

I look up at him and I gasped again. _It was Drew. _

He was shocked as well, but his shocked face disappeared quickly.

"May, come on," Brendan said. He was already ahead of me.

"Right," I said. Drew already turned his heels and walked away, so I did, too. We went in the game room.

Why is Drew here?

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

"May!"

I turned around. "Leaf!" We hugged and pulled apart. "Your dress amazing!" It was a dress that went halfway past her thigh and it was light green with a gold sash.

"Really?" Leaf smiled. "Good." I snickered. It was good because she wanted to look good for Gary, huh?

"Where is he?" I said. "Gary."

"He said he'd be here around ten minutes past six," she said. "His mom ends work at five forty five so it'll take a while." It was five fifty, so Gary will be here in around twenty minutes. Leaf looked happy and shy. "Where's your man?"

My man? Somehow that wasn't right, but it is. "Brendan's in line to get some food," I said. "He's getting some for me. I ordered two cookies, a piece of cake, a brownie and two cream puffs."

"Honey, what about dinner?" Leaf said. Leaf called me 'honey' in sarcasm. Usually when she says 'honey' it somehow translates to 'geez what's your problem?' I laughed. "But really, May. You're going to get fat."

"I don't get fat from eating," I said.

"I know," Leaf said, pissed. "You're so lucky."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "I know." She rolled her eyes at my childish act. Brendan came back with a plate filled with desserts. "Oooh, desserts!" I took the plate. "Thanks Brendan, you're the best!"

Brendan chuckled. "You're welcome, May. I got a little more, but it probably won't fill your bottomless stomach." I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, so I just shrugged my shoulders. "Hey Leaf."

"Hey Brendan," Leaf greeted. "How's it like being Matched to May?"

"Great I guess," Brendan said.

"'I guess,'" I repeated, rolling my eyes. "Thanks."

"I was kidding," he said, laughing. "Anyways, we should get over to the basement. Everyone is there and they're going to start the congratulating."

I sighed. "It's like the Matched Banquet all over again." Leaf and Brendan laughed lightly and we both went to the basement together.

But then Leaf stopped. "You know, I'm going to go outside. I want to wait for Gary."

"Aww you don't wanna go with me?" I asked. Leaf bit her lip. "I'm kidding. Go ahead. Just don't stay outside together too long."

Leaf glared at me. "I won't." She left and Brendan and I proceeded to the basement. It was really hot considering all the people.

"Here, let's stand in the back," Brendan said. "That way we can stay away from all the people. It'll also be less hot." He knows I don't like it when it's hot. I can't stand it.

"Thanks," I said. We leaned against the wall and saw some Matched couples going up and they were talking about how great their Match was. Hopefully there isn't anyone who isn't happy with their Match here. That would make the whole party suck.

"Who wants to come up next?" Iris said. Iris looked at Rose and she shook her head. I saw her mouth something to her mom but I didn't catch it. Iris chuckled. "Rose says she wants to be last. I guess she wants everyone to remember her best, huh?" Everyone laughed. When the last person goes up for a speech or presentation, they're usually the most memorable. Iris is a funny and great host.

"Mom!" Rose yelled, embarrassed.

Iris ignored her. "Who wants to come up next? If no one does, I'll be picking some random young couple, recently Matched or not!" No one volunteered and she looked right at me.

Crap.

"May Maple and your Match, come up to the stage!" Iris said. She walked off, expecting me to come up.

I pouted and turned to Brendan. "Brendan, I don't—"

"C'mon May," Brendan said, amused. He was obviously enjoying this. What a meanie. Here I was thinking he was such a considerate person. I unwillingly followed him up on the stage. We walked up the stairs and Brendan went to the microphone first. "Hey, I'm Brendan Birch, and this is my Match, May Maple. I can't really say I really like the person and I'm glad to be Matched with her. We were friends since we were in diapers, so I already knew her. Actually, I can say I'm happy to be Matched with her. She's a wonderful person."

I smiled. How sweet.

Brendan is a good spokesperson, but he really isn't the kind who loves to say sweet stuff. He backed away from the microphone and gave me a signal that it was my turn. I sighed. I have a little stage fright.

I walked up to the microphone and tapped it lightly. "Hi. As Brendan said, I'm May Maple. I'm really happy to be Matched with Brendan—"

I took a quick pause. Why?

Drew was staring right at me.

I don't know why it affected me so much. There were over two hundred pairs of eyes on me. But his eyes on me felt like a million pairs of eyes glued onto me.

I clench the microphone, and my hands felt sweatier. Why does Drew have this affect on me?

He continued to stare at me. Those green eyes stared at me so intensely…

_Stop looking at me like that._

People probably thought I felt nervous and I didn't want them to think that. I quickly recalled what I just said. "Sorry. I'm really happy to be Matched with Brendan, my childhood friend. This is the most perfect Match for me."

I let go of the microphone and backed away. People clapped and we left the stage. As I walked off, I glanced at Drew. He wasn't looking at me anymore. His eyes were now on the next Matched couple who volunteered to go up.

I took a deep breath and looked forward to where my feet were taking me.

I think back at what I said. "_This is the most perfect Match for me." _

Yeah. It is.

Right?

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..xoxo

A few days later, Thursday, Grandfather came over again. The nursing home workers who assisted him here informed my parents that he'll be staying here until his Final Banquet. His Final Banquet is pretty much is eightieth birthday.

Also the last day for him.

His time was coming. His birthday was this Sunday. Counting today, there are four more days. "Hey Grandfather," I said.

"How are you, May?" he greeted.

"Fine," I said. "How are you?"

"Good," he said. I helped him to his room that we prepared for him. Grandfather went under the covers and he sat against some pillows. "What have you been up to lately?"

I grinned. "I joined a hiking club! I think it's the same school that you went to. Rendra Hike."

Grandfather nodded. "Yes, that was it. You're going to have lots of fun." He looked delighted. "You know, after a month or two or your training and work, they let you hike on the Hill. That is, if you passed every assignment."

"Seriously?" I said. The Hill is the last place in the City that hasn't been touched or changed at all by the Agents. Even though it was once used for Army training and uses, it's still beautiful. Agents don't pay much attention to it anymore.

"Yes, I did, it was amazing," he said. Grandfather looked as excited as I do, even though he's not the one going. "From the highest point of the Hill you can see the whole outer province. It's sparkling. That is, if it hasn't changed sixty years ago." He chuckles to himself. "Also, ev—"

I cut him off. "So I can hike there with my hiking partner? My whole class can go there?"

"When did you like hiking so much?" Grandfather asked. I shrugged.

"Because—"

Because… because Drew invited me and said it was fun, I want to go. What kind of reason is that? Grandfather doesn't know Drew, and if I tell him who he is and how I met him… well, maybe Grandfather can tell me advice.

Not yet though.

"What?" Grandfather said.

"I'm thinking," I said.

"Of what?"

I make a thinking face and I cross my arms across my chest. "You know who my Match is, right?" Grandfather nodded and says his name. Brendan. "What do you think Grandmother would say?"

Grandmother was a thinker. She'd also ask questions you'd never even thought of. But they weren't pointless questions. The answer you would say was always a key in life for you. Too bad she's not here.

"I think," Grandfather started. "I think she'd ask if you wondered."

I wanted to ask what he means, but I hear my mother calling that I have to leave. I have school, and the train I take is about to arrive and it takes me awhile to get to the station. I want to stay and chat.

He gets that I have to go. But before I leave, he asked, "May, do you still have the pocket watch I gave you?"

"Yes," I said.

"Can you bring it to my Final Banquet on Sunday?" he asked. "That watch is filled with memories."

I bit my lip and try to keep myself from crying. He must have wanted to remember his parents, siblings, my grandmother… I wipe my eyes. Tears haven't fallen. Not yet at least. "Yes. I will."

"Thank you, May."

I quickly wrapped my arms around him and kiss is forehead. I don't want to cry.

As I leave, I look at Grandfather who is staring blankly at the wall. I wonder what he's thinking about. Grandmother? His parents? His Final Banquet? Leaving? His time is running out, I don't understand how he's feeling at all, or what he's thinking.

My mom gave me my bag. "Have a safe trip," she said. "Did you have a good talk with Grandfather?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said. "It made me wonder."

Although I don't understand completely, or at all, what Grandfather said about what Grandmother would have said, I take a guess. If I were to tell her everything, would she ask if I wondered if Drew were to be my Match?

Then, everything that was right feels wrong. I think about my Match… but the only thing, no, person, that appears in my head is that green haired and green haired eyed wonder… it was as if Drew was looking right at me with those gorgeous emerald eyes. The question that I threw away quickly as it came to me long ago, came back.

_Is it supposed to be you, Drew?_

* * *

**Psh, I guess it was a little like the ending of chapter five. But NO SHE HAS REALIZED MORE CRAP OMG.**

**Um yeah sorry for the late update guys. ): I was going to update but I had a writer's block! It's a good thing I thought of this because I really liked this chapter.**

**The last scene was kind of like the book. (: well actually this whole story is like the book LOL. I'm saying that it is VERY LIKE chapter 6 in Ally Condie's book.**

**Who's happy about the long chapter? (: ME!**

**TATA! Review and I'll update ASAP.**

**And thank you to the people who checked out **_**Your Love **_**and voted on my poll! ^^**

**~Citra**


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